Forgetful Guardian
by Boba Addict
Summary: [SEQUEL TO POWERLESS GUARDIAN] Jack has been stuck as a human for several months now, and he's growing impatient. He has no idea what the Man in the Moon has planned for him, nor does he know that Pitch Black is down in his lair devising a sinister plan of revenge. And in the midst of all of that, something occurs that nobody ever expected to happen... Jack forgets.
1. In Which Anton Threatens to Blackify

**Now before anyone moves ahead or says anything, this is the sequel to my story Powerless Guardian. And no, this is not one of those sequels that can be read without reading the original first. So **_**IF YOU HAVE NOT READ POWERLESS GUARDIAN, READ IT NOW BEFORE YOU READ FORGETFUL GUARDIAN UNLESS IF YOU WANT TO BE HORRIBLY CONFUSED AND WONDERING WHO IN THE WORLD HALF OF THESE CHARACTERS ARE AND WHY THE HELL JACK IS RESIDING IN JAMIE'S HOME. I CANNOT STRESS THAT ENOUGH.**_

"Jack, wake up," Jamie whined as he hopped on Jack's bed. "We have to go to school."

"I am awake," Jack spoke grumpily from under the bedsheets, "but I refuse to get out of bed."

"Come on! Look, I know you're still upset and disappointed that you're still human even after that thing with Immo's been cleared up, but you can't just mope around forever!"

Jack sat up, throwing off his blankets, and deadpanned, "For the past three hundred years, my sole purpose in life was to have fun and spread winter. And I can't exactly do that when I'm stripped of my powers."

"Actually, you can still have fun," Jamie corrected. "You're just too busy sulking to realize that."

"Excuse you, if you were in my shoes, you wouldn't exactly be overjoyed either. I have been stuck as a mortal ever since the middle of December, and now it's already February," Jack stated matter-of-factly. "I have been waiting ever since the first day I began living in your home to have my powers return to me, and I was more than convinced that the defeat of Immo would fix that. Apparently, it didn't, and I don't even have a vague idea on what Manny is thinking. I have given up on life, so I might as well suffer as a little human and grow old and all that other crap before finally dying peacefully in my sleep. Or maybe my death won't be so quiet and peaceful. Maybe I'll get in a car crash because of Anton or get stabbed in the chest by a criminal I happen to run into. Or maybe not necessarily stabbing. Maybe a gunshot. Who knows?"

"Zander's thinking of becoming a police detective once be graduates college. I'm sure he's willing to protect you from any assassinations," Jamie suggested, completely (and intentionally) missing Jack's point.

"Jamie, I know you're disregarding everything I just said on purpose."

"And I know you can actually be a whole lot happier if you weren't trying so hard to remain sad and miserable. Keep on doing that and wrinkles will start showing up. You don't want to ruin that pretty face of yours."

"...Is it just me, or have you gotten snarkier ever since the Guardians found me and brought me back here?"

Jamie averted eye contact. "Zander and Cody are the top two most sarcastic people I know, and hearing them go on and on for hours might just...get a little contagious." Looking back at Jack, he added, "And you're actually pretty witty with your words too, so part of the blame goes to you. Now are you getting out of bed or not?"

"No," Jack replied stubbornly, lying back down and covering his head with his sheets. "I'm never getting out of bed."

"Get up or I'm calling Cody and he'll scream at you until you get up."

"How do you even have his number?" Jack asked, not fazed.

"I looked through your contacts," Jamie said triumphantly. "And if you really don't mind him, then I'll just get my mom. She was so stressed about you when you just disappeared on all of us. I mean, she may get why you did it, but you can't be sure that she won't go psycho if she finds out that now you're being hardheaded and won't get out of bed..." He left the warning lingering in the air.

Jack sat up in bed promptly. "I'm up. Don't you dare sic your mom on me."

* * *

"Dad, are you sure I should already be going to school just two days after we came here?" Hazel Campbell sighed as she watched her frantic father move various large cardboard boxes around the living room.

"Well I can't change that now, can I?" Mr. Campbell panted after pushing a particularly large box containing their new sofa to the side. "Besides, your education is your number one priority, and if you miss your first day there, you won't be leaving a very good impression on your teachers. I can handle all this stuff by myself."

"If my teachers do end up thinking I'm a delinquent who likes cutting class, they won't for long. I'll just suck up to them," Hazel said confidently. Back at her old school, she had a reputation for being the teacher's pet.

Colin only gave her an exasperated look. "Are you saying you want to skip school?"

"No!" Hazel squeaked quickly, not liking that idea at all. She strived for a perfect attendance record. "I'm going now then. Bye."

She turned on the heel of her boot and opened the front door. She was about to step outside when Colin suddenly rushed over and pushed the door closed again. "On second thought," he began sheepishly, "I think it's best if you stay for another minute or two."

Hazel frowned. "Why? What's out there?"

"You know..._a boy. _Two boys, actually."

Hazel glanced out the window that was next to the door. Sure enough, two boys, backpacks slung over their shoulders, were walking down the sidewalk, right past her house. However...

"Dad, one of those boys looks like he's only in his first year of middle school."

"You can never be too sure! Maybe he just...hasn't gone through puberty yet?"

Hazel turned to him with an unimpressed expression on her face. "I doubt it."

"Okay, but... What about that other guy? He's clearly around your age! If you go out there, he'll undoubtedly do something to you!"

"...Why would he do anything when there's that middle school boy standing right nexta to him?"

"I don't know, maybe he's an accomplice!"

Hazel rolled her eyes and looked back out the window. The little boy obviously was not a problem, and she was sure the older boy wasn't either. As if on cue, she saw the latter yawn tiredly. So maybe he was a little bit of the slacker type, but overall, he didn't seem so bad.

Turning to her dad again, Hazel said, "Dad, you need to stop treating boys like they're the plague. I'm seventeen years old, and if I wanted a boyfriend or anything, I would've gotten one by now. Also, even if I did have a significant other, there's no need to worry. You know I'm not careless when it comes to deciding who I should get close to." _And frankly, you give off the impression that you think I'm a slut._

Colin looked down. "It's only natural for a man to worry about his daughter..."

Hazel sighed, and then gave him a quick hug. "I understand. Look, I really want to leave now before I'm late. I'll be home right after school's over."

Colin smiled and hugged her back. "Love you."

"Love you too." Hazel pulled away and opened the door again. She walked outside, down the front steps, and began her way down the sidewalk. The two boys she had spotted earlier were now a few yards ahead of her. Contemplating, she weighed the choices of whether she should try and talk to them. Surely her dad wouldn't be happy, but since they had been going down her street, they were most likely her neighbors. Yes, it'd be nice to get to know the people living next door. Her mind made up, she hurried to catch up to them.

"Excuse me!"

Jack and Jamie stopped their small talk and turned to see a girl jogging to approach them. She had brunette locks of hair that went only right past her shoulders. The bottom strands had been curled to give them a bouncy look, and she had some lighter brown undertones in some places. She had brown eyes to match her hair, and she wore a smile that showed her dimples and cheerful attitude.

"Uh, hey," Jack greeted back, albeit a little hesitantly. "Do you...need anything?"

The girl's smile faltered for a bit. "Er... No. I just wanted to say hi. My family and I just moved here, and I'm heading to school and...yeah." _God, this is more awkward than I thought it would be..._

Jamie apparently agreed, because he remarked aloud, "The atmosphere right now seems so stiff."

"Yeah..." Jack agreed. "Uh, are you the one who moved in that house we just passed? Everyone else who lives here heard that it got sold."

"Yup! Are you going to Burgess High School? 'Cause that's where I'm going."

"Oh yeah. Do you want to come with? I'm Jack, by the way. This here is Jamie."

"Are you guys brothers?" Hazel asked curiously.

Jack and Jamie shared a look. "Not really..." the former trailed off.

"More like cousins," Jamie offered. He didn't particularly approve of fibbing, but both he and Jack were rather sick of having to use that unnecessary, much more complicated lie Jack had previously come up with.

Jack nodded, playing along. "Yeah. Cousins. My own parents are away on a business trip," he added onto the lie, in case Hazel questioned where his (very, very dead) parents were.

Hazel nodded slowly. "Okay... Well, I'm Hazel. Hazel Campbell. Nice to meet you!"

Jack offered a small smile back. "Ditto."

* * *

"What locker number do you have? I'll take you to it." Jack leaned over and peeked at the slip of paper in Hazel's hand. Her other hand held a copy of the school map she had grabbed when she passed by the principal's office.

Hazel frowned and hid the paper that contained her locker number and combination behind her back. "Hey, not so fast. I'm not comfortable with sharing my combo with anyone."

Jack blinked for a bit, then grinned cheekily. "Who says I was gonna peek?"

"That grin of yours, that's who," Hazel retorted. "Anyway, my number's 3418. Know where that is?"

Jack thought for a bit. "Yeah... I think my friend has the locker right next to it. Come on, it's this way."

He led her down the hallway and to the left, where a row of lockers occupied the walls. A couple people were there already, opening them and either fishing out or putting in books. Down at the far end, a certain Asian redhead was busy entering the combo for his own compartment.

Jack grabbed Hazel's arm and took her over to the redhead. "Yo, Anton!"

Anton looked up. "Oh, hey, Jack. What's up?" His eyes trailed over to Hazel. "...Who's this?"

"New student. Hazel, this is Anton, our resident Asian redhead. Anton, this is Hazel, my new neighbor."

"Oh yeah!" Anton smiled. "I thought you looked familiar. Me and my sister saw you with your dad unloading stuff from the moving truck the other day."

"Yeah, I saw you too! Except I didn't really get a good look at your face, so I only saw you had red hair... I didn't notice that you were an Asian as well..." Hazel paused, then shouted, "Is that even genetically possible?!"

"No," Jack loftily interrupted before Anton could put a word in. "Even though he insists it's natural, the rest of us are sure it's fake."

"No! Listen here, Overland! Do you know how hard it is to be both an Asian and a redhead?!" Anton exploded, completely dropping his usual friendliness. "I get accused of dying my hair _all the time_! I don't need your input too! Now shut up before I smack the Caucasian out of you and turn you black!"

Hazel looked absolutely dumbfounded while an unfazed Jack gleefully rubbed it in, "That made about as much sense as your hair!"

Anton heaved a sigh and massaged the bridge of his nose. "Well, I hope that lets you know that you shouldn't call my hair fake," he muttered to Hazel.

Hazel laughed awkwardly. "Yeah, I don't think I want my ethnicity slapped out of me..."

"I couldn't care either way," Jack piped up cheerfully. "If I turn black, l'll simply go the Eddie Murphy route!"

"Jack, why do I like you?" Anton deadpanned.

"Because I'm special!"

"Yeah, you're special and deserve special treatment."

"Like being treated like royalty?"

"No, like being locked up in a mental facility."

By now, Hazel had started to pay no heed to the banter going on beside her, and she entered her combo for her locker. Opening it, she took the books that were contained in her bag and put them in neatly, one by one. As if on cue, the first bell rang once she finished.

Starting, she hurriedly turned to the two boys, who were still arguing. "Hey, do you know where..." She looked down at her schedule. "...the performance art classroom is?"

"Hm? Yeah, both of us have it for sixth period. Go back the way you came, and continue straight down till you reach the end of the hallway," Anton instructed. "The door's usually open, and the room's bigger than most of the other classes. You can't miss it."

"Isn't that also Cody's first class?" Jack questioned.

"Oh yeah, it is." Anton turned back to Hazel. "Good luck dealing with him every morning."

Hazel frowned. "Do you guys have a problem with this Cody person?"

Jack only shrugged and shook his head while Anton nodded matter-of-factly.

"I'm...getting mixed signals. Is he bad?"

"He's not that bad," Jack disagreed.

"He's horrible," Anton stated at the same time as Jack.

Jack glared at him. "You know, for the past couple weeks, I had thought you guys were improving your relationship."

"He dropped a rock on my foot," Anton retorted.

"He'd do that to anybody," Jack shot back. "Besides, you beat him at DDR. That should be enough compensation."

"I beat him at a game. He _dropped a rock on my foot and gave me a nasty bruise_. I sense some strong inequality here. And besides, you said he's not that bad. Not _that_ bad. So basically, he's still bad to some extent."

"But wait, what does he look like?" Hazel interrupted before they could continue further. "I'm curious, and also, if you want me to avoid him, I need to recognize him."

"Not that I want you to avoid him, but he's got, uh, black hair that sorta falls over his right eye—" Jack began.

"That's messy and unorganized like crap," Anton groaned.

Jack rolled his eyes before continuing, "And he wears all black—"

"Because it matches the color of his heart," Anton added once again.

Jack glared at him again. "And if that doesn't give him away, he's just got this misanthropic attitude that radiates off of his body—"

"Rude as hell."

"Dude, just stop that!" Jack snapped at him.

"So... He's basically like a walking black hole?" Hazel asked. "He's just black all over?"

"Pretty much, but sometimes you'll see him with red undertones...also he's white—"

"Not for long, I'll smack that ethnicity out and turn him black," Anton grinned.

Jack was silent for a moment, then grudgingly admitted, "Okay, that was actually pretty clever and funny. And the only thing else is that he has blue eyes."

"...Okay, I actually think his eyes are beautiful, but can we pretend that that's an insult?" Anton asked hopefully.

"Absolutely not," Jack said monotonously.

Anton scowled. "You suck."

"Uh, yeah, okay, I think I'm going to head to class now," Hazel spoke up. "I don't want to be late on my first day. See you guys!"

Once she was gone and out of earshot, an unimpressed Jack turned to Anton and deadpanned, "Beautiful eyes, huh? I'm seriously contemplating on telling him that."

"Do that, and I'll spread rumors about you!" Anton smiled innocently. "This is when my status as the vice principal's son comes in handy!"

"...We are _not_ discussing this any further."

* * *

When Hazel entered the room, she immediately spotted a boy who matched Jack (and Anton's) exact description talking to the teacher at her desk. He was pretty cute, though Jack and Anton were too. Maybe if it weren't for that deadpan expression that was on his face, matched by the equally deadpan tone of voice Hazel was sure he was using as he spoke to the teacher, she would have had a better first impression of him.

She shook her head out of her thoughts. _Wait for a bit, Hazel. You haven't even properly talked to him yet. Don't judge so quickly._

She promptly found an empty chair and lowered herself into it, hoping that it wasn't occupied (Most of the students were already in the classroom and were chatting amongst themselves). When her behind barely touched the seat, one other boy suddenly came rushing into the room and plopped himself right next to her. He heaved a relieved sigh, muttering, "Thank god the bell hasn't rung yet..."

"Um...hi?" Hazel said, sounding more like she was asking something.

The boy looked up, noticing her for the first time, and abruptly straightened himself, clearing his throat. "Um, hello. I've never seen you in here before. Are you a new kid?"

Hazel nodded. "Yeah, I'm Hazel. Hazel Campbell." _God, if Dad knew just how many guys I've talked to already, he would flip._

"I'm Conrad Montgomery. Nice to meet you!" Conrad flashed a charismatic, friendly smile.

Hazel offered a small smile back. "Likewise. Um..." She looked down at her seat. "Is this seat taken? I don't want to steal anyone's seat."

Conrad shook his head. "Nah, we don't have assigned seats in this class. Pretty neat, eh?" He winked at her.

She nodded. Her eyes trailed back to whom she was sure was Cody, just as he was rolling his eyes at his teacher. The latter seemed unfazed by his attitude, which threw Hazel off. Most teachers would at least call out their students for showing disrespect towards their superior.

Conrad noticed her attention on Cody, leaning in and whispering teasingly, "Don't tell me you already have a crush when your first class on your first day hasn't even started."

Hazel snapped out of her reverie and stared at Conrad. "No! He just stands out! You can tell he's not like a part of the normal student body! And besides, he's not my type." It was true. Hazel didn't particularly fancy boys like Cody. Or at least, what she presumed Cody to be like. Not that she was interested in dating in the first place.

Conrad smirked. "Sure, sure. Then what _is_ your type?"

"I like down-to-earth, friendly people who have a good sense of humor." She thought about Anton. He surely seemed to fulfill that list, despite the nonsensical thing he was saying about slapping someone's race out of them (Hazel ultimately decided to file that whole incident under 'good sense of humor,' though she doubted he was joking). As for Jack... Eh, too much of a troublemaker.

"Like me?" Conrad's mischievous look grew. "I'm pretty sure I'm all of those things."

"Nope. Too flirty, too forward, and too full of himself," Hazel stated. "Besides, I'm not saying I'm considering dating. I'd rather focus on my studies for now, and also, my overprotective dad would be out for blood."

Conrad feigned sadness. "You just rejected me _hard_."

"We haven't even known each other for more than two minutes," Hazel replied offhandedly, though she couldn't keep a smile from reaching her lips. Conrad seemed like a nice person. It felt nice to already make a friend on her first day. She remembered back in Philadelphia, she had a hard time finding a whole lot of friends due to her introverted nature. When she and her family had moved to Burgess, she had made a resolution to be more social at her new school. And so far, it was paying off (She would probably have to lie to her dad about the gender of her newfound friends though).

She was brought back out of her thoughts when she suddenly saw a third person's leg swing itself at Conrad. She only had time to open her mouth to warn Conrad when the latter was kicked rather viciously right in his side. He yelped and fell right out of his chair, causing Hazel to squeak and look up in horror at his attacker. His clothes were all black, and his equally dark hair fell perfectly over past his forehead and just about covered his right eye. Hazel stared, realizing she hadn't gotten a good and close enough look at him when she had glanced at him talking to the teacher.

Conrad groaned and rubbed his side, sitting up on the floor. "Oh god, that's gonna leave a mark..." He eyed Cody wearily. "What was that for?"

"I heard you were flirting with a chick again," Cody said, his voice just as flat as Hazel had imagined. "Would you mind not doing that in here? You're just gonna make me puke all over the floor. And when I get sent up to the school nurse, don't be surprised if I put all the blame on you." He plopped himself right onto the now empty chair. "Also, this seat is mine. I give zero fucks how this class doesn't have a seating chart, so don't object."

Severe irritation welled up inside Hazel, now that she had realized that Cody had just kicked a completely innocent person out of chair with what looked to be a very heavy boot. And now, he was insulting Conrad for simply being friendly to the new girl? "Hey!" she shouted. "You can't just literally kick someone out of their seat and then take it like you didn't do anything!"

Cody turned to give her a withering look, acknowledging her presence for the first time. He didn't look at her for more than a second before his eyes dropped to look at something below her face. Hazel couldn't figure out what exactly he was looking at until he deadpanned, "Where are your tits?"

Hazel blinked twice before the meaning of those four words hit her full force. Her jaw dropped, and she looked down at her (very, very flat) chest. Her head raised again to meet Cody's indifferent expression. He offhandedly brushed his bangs away, revealing his raised eyebrow and crystal blue eyes, which immediately connected with Hazel's own...well, hazel ones. And suddenly, to Hazel, the world around the two of them disappeared. She didn't hear the late bell ring, nor could she see Conrad's awkward expression as he made poor attempts at trying to start a new conversation topic in order to ease the obvious tension in the air. The only thing her eyes and ears could see and hear at that moment was Cody and the echo of that short, rhetorical but oh-so-wrong question he had asked her. Of course, she didn't exactly have high expectations when she first noticed him, but she didn't think he would be so low to make fun of one of her most personal issues.

And that was the exact moment Hazel Campbell ultimately decided that she did not like Cody Gray. Anton turned out to be right, this boy was horrible. And she would do her best to stay away.

**Ahhhh first chapter done. I was anticipating for this sequel so much, I had written it in advance. So here ya go. Found it a little awkward and weak, but I'm pretty sure the execution will start flowing better once I get used to the fact that this is no longer Powerless Guardian. And Hazel doesn't seem too likable either, but again, she should be a smoother and more realistic character once I get used to her (You'd think I would already be considering she's been in my brain for ages). Also CONRAD IS NOT A LOVE INTEREST. JUST PUTTING THAT OUT THERE.**

**Anyway, it's clear to me that this first chapter was a little Hazel-centric. But don't worry, the next chapter should focus on the other OCs all you readers know and love. Zander and Spencer will come in as well. **

**ALSO let me clarify something about the whole 'hey I'm gonna smack and turn you black' thing. I have absolutely no prejudice against any race whatsoever. That little thing wasn't meant to be insulting or discriminatory, so please please **_**please**_** don't be offended by that. I despise every kind of racism, and I'll be nice and put out there that Anton does too. I'm saying this now because I just know someone's going to take this wrong. And some of you don't read these ANs, so someone's still bound to misconstrue Anton's comment, but whatever.**

**Byeeeee and review~**


	2. In Which Cody Slushies Himself

A fuming Hazel pushed her way through the crowds in the hallway. She no longer cared about attempting to remain affable for the rest of the day; after all, if people like him were dealt with on a daily basis, then she clearly wouldn't be such a big problem when she was at her meanest. She reached her locker and entered her combo, and after taking out her calculus textbook, she slammed it shut, a resounding clang causing several passersby to look at her.

And those several included Anton. "Wow, you're angry. Tell me, what did he do?"

Just the fact that he immediately knew Cody had ticked her off spoke for itself. "He kicked someone out of his seat. Literally. And I just so happened to be carrying on a conversation with that someone." Hazel decided to keep quiet about the remark about her chest.

Anton looked a little skeptical. "Wow. I thought he did something to you. How was that other guy anyway?"

Hazel shrugged. "He was kind of hurting, but in general, he was cool about it."

"...Then why are you so mad?" Anton obviously suspected Hazel to only be giving out half the story.

"What, I can't be mad for someone who was completely innocent?"

"I see your point. Who is this person, by the way?"

"A boy named Conrad. Montgomery, I think."

Anton was silent for a moment, and then he said, "You know, I'm suddenly a lot happier that Cody attacked him."

Hazel stared. That certainly wasn't a reaction she was expecting. "Why? What's he done to you? He's nice."

"Don't fall for it, it's all an act. He's really the type of guy who'd be more than willing to sleep with a girl for a measly two bucks then dump her the next morning. He's cold, manipulative, and heartless. Get on his bad side and he'll try to destroy you."

"Gee, why do I get the feeling that you're on his bad side?" Hazel wondered sarcastically.

Anton looked away. "He's friends with Samson Fisher, the school bully. I'll be honest here, I was too. But then I left once I grew some balls. They're both furious at me now. Samson wanted to try something, but I guess he gave up soon after. As for Conrad, he's been shooting me death glares when no one's looking lately. I just know he's got something up his sleeve."

"Well... Maybe he didn't understand the situation. Maybe, to him, it just looked like you ditched them," Hazel suggested. "He's probably just worked up over that. He's friendly enough, so he'll likely forgive you if you explain the whole story."

"Hazel, there's no such thing as a teenage boy who's that social, that friendly, and that...perfect. At least, not one who means it," Anton stated matter-of-factly.

Hazel bit her lip. "But he seemed so...genuine."

Anton gave her a raised eyebrow. "You only met him this morning and you're already that trusting of him? I wouldn't be so open if I were you. This is high school, and high school means you're going to run into a couple backstabbers along the way. And you have to believe me when I say that Conrad is one of those people."

"You just told me I shouldn't trust people too quickly," Hazel retorted, "but now you're telling me that I should trust you, even though I haven't known you any longer than I knew Conrad."

Anton sighed and ran a hand through his red hair. "Okay, but don't come crying to me once you find out that I'm right about him." Before Hazel could react to that, he added, "Oh, and Hazel? Don't mind Cody too much, alright? He's sort of like that with everybody. And if you ever find yourself about to snap, just compare him to Christian Grey from that Fifty Shades of Grey book." He grinned. "It always works."

* * *

"So do you want to sit with me during lunch?" Cici asked kindly, as she packed up her bag once fourth period was over. "I wouldn't want you to be all alone and left out on your first day."

Hazel smiled. "Yeah, that'd be nice. Thank you." Well, at least now I wouldn't be lying if I told Dad that I made a female friend. "Oh, but first, can we stop by my locker so I can put away this thing?" She held up a thick English book.

"Sure, but you should know that we don't really need that for this class. We have a class set," Cici informed.

Hazel turned her head to look at the shelf of about thirty textbooks right beside her. "Yeah, I kind of figured that once I walked in."

The two of them exited the classroom and headed down the hallway towards Hazel's locker. As they neared it, Anton had their back facing them, as he was talking to someone. Once they got even closer, a dismayed Hazel realized that he was carrying on a conversation with none other than Cody. She thought she could just put away her book and leave as fast as she could with Cici, but then she noticed that Cody was leaning against a locker—her locker. Great, her resolution to avoid him was already crumbling.

"Um, are you okay?" Cici asked, seeing Hazel's unhappy expression.

"Just...fine," Hazel sighed.

"Over the weekend, when I took Kayla back home from Jack's place, Dad saw me driving down the road and told me that if I didn't start driving slower, he'd take away my car keys," Anton was saying. "But the thing is, he's seen me drive a bunch of times and I've always been driving this fast. What do you make of that?"

"Depends on how that went. Did he say that after you almost accidentally ran him over while going up the driveway?" Cody said, looking like he couldn't care less.

"No... At least I don't think so." Anton's eyes widened. "Are you saying I almost killed my dad? The vice principal of this school? Oh god, I could've gone to jail for that!"

Hazel looked at Cici. "His dad's the vice principal?" she whispered.

Cici only nodded in response.

"Wouldn't you have gone to jail no matter who you ran over?" Cody asked testily. "Come on, I used to have a friend who ended up going to jail. Though to be fair, he called up his rich cousin to bail him out immediately after."

"That's the thing! I don't have a rich cousin!"

"I don't think it matters whether or not you know anybody who's rich, I don't see how they would be willing to bail out someone like you." Cody shrugged.

Anton looked like he wasn't sure if he ought to be offended. "But...do you think I drive too recklessly?"

"How should I know? I don't drive. I got my learner's permit, then I just gave up. Everywhere I want to go to is in walking distance anyway," Cody replied, still looking bored out of his mind.

"But I live all the way on the other side of town. So if Dad means it when he says he's willing to take away my driving privileges, then that means I can't come to school anymore." Anton paused, then corrected, "Well, I can, but that involves waking up extra early and riding with Dad to school at six in the morning. And I'm not a morning person, so that's going to be insufferable."

Hazel decided she had more than enough of listening to this conversation (She suspected that the two boys didn't even notice her presence), so she meekly piped up, "Um, excuse me?"

Too quiet. Neither of them heard her.

"But wait, didn't you say that one time that your own dad drives like me? So my driving habits are perfectly normal, right?" Anton continued on.

"As far as I know, in all his thirty years of driving around town, he only got about forty-eight speeding tickets."

Hazel didn't want to know. "Excuse me?" she said again, louder this time.

Still no response.

"Forty-eight?!" Anton's jaw dropped. "You're not...exaggerating, are you?"

"I don't exaggerate when it comes to statistics," Cody answered nonchalantly. "Come on, you'd expect a driver like him to get tickets every time he drives. So he's incredibly lucky to have only gotten forty-eight."

"'Driver like him'? Are you saying that I deserve as many tickets as he does?" After a pause, Anton added, "And you know, I had a crappy driving instructor, so I only found out what tickets were when Jack told me. If I knew that those kind of things existed, then maybe I would pay more attention to the speed limit signs."

"You know, another reason why I refused to get my license was because I didn't trust any instructor my mom called to hire," Cody informed offhandedly. "Who knows, if I wasn't so stubborn, maybe I would've gotten the same one as you did and been an equally careless driver."

"Excuse me?!" Hazel didn't realize how loud she shouted until the two words were already out of her mouth.

Apparently, Cody really did hear her every time she spoke, because he completely whirled on her and snapped, "Will you shut the fuck up?! Hasn't your mother ever taught you that it's wrong to interrupt a conversation?! You're that new girl in my class this morning, and don't try to deny it because even though I didn't really pay attention to your face, I recognize you because of those plains where your mountains are supposed to be!" Cody's eyes trailed down, and Hazel hastily held her textbook against her chest. With a roll of his eyes, he turned to a face palming Anton. "Can we talk about this in the cafeteria? Maybe you'd want to ask Jack or the twins about this instead." Without waiting, he left.

Anton lifted his head and wearily asked Hazel, "Did he just insult your figure?"

"How rude of him," Cici frowned in the direction Cody had gone.

"...He did that this morning too," Hazel reluctantly admitted, as she opened her locker and inserted her textbook inside. "It was the first thing he said to me, actually. It's the real reason why you saw me so angry. I just used the Conrad thing to cover it up because..." She looked down at her flat lands. "It's a sensitive topic that I feel uncomfortable with talking about."

"I can't believe a girl I just met today is opening up to me about her insecurities over her body," Anton deadpanned.

"And that is why she's coming with me," Cici interjected, linking her arm through Hazel's. "Come on, let's go."

As they entered the cafeteria, Hazel immediately spotted Cody sitting with Jack on the far end. She was absolutely dumbfounded when she saw that he appeared casual, as if he didn't just yell at her for simply trying to get him to move out of the way. And that made her angry. Why did Jack and Anton hang around someone like him? He was utterly loathsome and foul. What made everyone around him deserve that kind of treatment?

She probably would have continued staring if Cici didn't pull her along to an empty table. When both of them sat down opposite each other, Cici promptly said, "Please don't take anything he said to heart. It's not like you're the only one he stomps into the dirt. He does that to everyone he knows."

Oh yeah, Anton said something similar. "I know that, it's just..." Hazel sighed. "How do the rest of you deal? Whether or not I'm the only one he treats this way, he's still being cruel. I can't stand cruel people. Why is he like this?"

Cici stayed silent, then softly said, "I don't know, actually. If you plan to find out, then I'm sure he's the one who understands best."

Hazel sighed again and looked at the lunch line. Changing the subject, she asked, "Is the food here good?"

"Good is a relative term. What exactly are your expectations for school food?"

Hazel snorted. "Not very high, I'll give you that. I'm certain my old school carried lunches that contained rotten fruits."

"Well, at least that's not how it goes for our school. Still not above average though. The best thing we have here are the smoothies. But that's probably because the lunch ladies order them from Smoothie King." Cici rolled her eyes. "In other words, I have a feeling they themselves know that the frozen pizzas they have suck."

Hazel laughed at that. "So, uh, shouldn't you be with your other friends? Where are they?" She looked around, but Cici stopped her.

"They're all members of the cheerleading squad. We have practice today, so I'll meet up with them anyway. They won't mind."

"Right." Hazel tried to stay away from the subject, but... "Do you think I'm too flat?" she blurted out quickly, looking down at her chest.

"What?" Cici looked taken aback by the question. "No!" It was obvious to both of them that those were blatant lies. "Okay... Uh..." How should she phrase this so it didn't sound offensive? "You are a little bit, but it's not anything to panic over. Mine aren't very big either, so don't fret," she reassured.

"Yeah, but at least people can still tell you have them!" Hazel wailed. "I'm flat like a piece of cardboard! Nobody wants to marry a girl with a cardboard-like chest!"

"That's not true! Guys don't just focus on the body! They also focus on the personality!"

"Cici, stop lying to the poor girl. A lot of guys concentrate on three things: tits, ass, and leg," a boy spoke up casually. He had been standing there for the past few seconds and just had to put in his own opinion.

Seeing Hazel headdesk, Cici glared at him. "Zander, you are not helping the situation at all."

Zander seemed to realize his mistake, because he then said, "Oh. Right, sorry. Don't take offense to that, I was just trying to give my own input since you guys were so into the conversation." With some hesitation, he added, "But you know, what I say is true. I think it's one of the reasons why you girls often find men disgusting. But don't worry, not every guy is like that. So don't overreact."

"Why are you here anyway?" Cici asked.

"Spencer's out in the hallway being manhandled sexually by the Robinson triplets near his locker and I need you to stop them," Zander simply stated.

"...What?" Hazel was completely stupefied.

Cici's eyes narrowed. "I thought they liked Jack."

"Didn't we all?" Zander deadpanned. "I think they're trying to make him jealous by involving Spencer in this. Which is a stupid idea from the start, but hey, these are three sisters whose names all rhyme ridiculously like their parents didn't even try."

"Don't worry, I'll handle this," Cici hissed, getting up and leaving.

"...Um, who are the Robinson triplets?" Hazel managed to inquire.

"Just some crazy fangirls of my friend Jack," Zander voiced. "Sorry, I didn't get your name."

"It's Hazel. Hazel Campbell."

"Oh yeah, Jack mentioned you. I'm Zander. And Spencer's my loser twin brother. He's gone on several dates with Cici, just so you know. And by several, I mean one, and that one kind of ended on a bad note. Don't ask." Zander rolled his eyes. "He's such a wimp."

"...Shouldn't you go out there after Cici so you can make sure your brother's okay?" Hazel awkwardly said.

"Yeah, I should. Mind getting Jack to come along too? I mean, he is their object of affection."

Hazel nodded, and Zander turned to leave. The former stood up and went over to Jack and Cody's table, then, doing her best to ignore the latter, told Jack, "Your friend Zander just came up to Cici and me and told us his brother Spencer is falling prey to three of your fangirls near his locker."

"Let me guess, is it those annoying triplets?" Jack promptly caught on. "And Zander wants me to come along because I'm the one they're trying to make jealous?"

"You catch on fast," Hazel remarked.

"They're very persistent, and I deal with them often," Jack sighed wearily. "They need to step back into reality. Fine, I'll go." He turned to Cody. "Are you coming?"  
"Why the fuck should I?"

Shooting him a flat look, Jack muttered to Hazel, "Yeah, he's not coming." He turned on his heel and left.

Hazel found herself extremely uncomfortable being stuck with Cody (Luck was definitely not on her side that day), so she decided to follow Jack. She could have just gone to stand in the lunch line, but her appetite was down. Might as well go witness something that was bound to be at least slightly interesting.

Hurrying to catch up to Jack, she tried to make conversation. "So how exactly are the Robinson triplets?"

"They just never give up," Jack exhaled. "I got used to them, but still, I wish they'd stop bugging me. And another thing, I find it really freaky how they're so identical to each other. They pretty much finish each other's sentences. I mean, Zander and Spencer are twins but they're very different from each other. Flo, Bo, and Jo don't seem to have any sense of individuality."

As he rounded the corner to Spencer's locker with Hazel trailing behind, a thoroughly annoyed female voice, which obviously belonged to Cici, was becoming audible. They turned a left just in time to see Cici huff in frustration while a dazed glasses-wearing boy stood behind her, whom Hazel presumed was Spencer.

"What happened here?" Jack asked.

"Cici yelled at everyone. My brother included and myself excluded," a grinning Zander explained. "It was honestly really entertaining to watch. Too bad you missed out."

"Really, Spencer, if you're just going to let yourself be played around like that, you might as well quit that dream of becoming a doctor and start going to the local club to _work yourself on some bimbo's lap_!" Cici snapped, clearly not done yet.

"I'm sorry that I'm timid and quiet!" Spencer apologized profusely, looking about ready to get on his hands and knees.

"Zander... Let me just say something to you in private," Jack whispered before dragging Zander away from the others. In a louder voice, he uttered brilliantly, "Cici's scary when she's angry."

Zander rolled his eyes. "You wanted to have a one-on-one conversation with me that involves stating the obvious? But yeah, she is. Isn't this the first time you've seen her irritated?"

"I think so."

"Right. Just tell your little fangirls to not do this again."

And with that, they rejoined the rest of them. Fortunately, Cici looked to have calmed down by now.

As Zander ordered him to, Jack managed to politely say to the triplets, "Flo, Bo, Jo, can all three of you not involve my friends into your quest of trying to win me over? To me, that's not a very big turn-on, so please, don't try to make me jealous like that. I'm not too into becoming jealous over something so blatant."

"As you wish, Jackson," Bo Robinson giggled flirtatiously. Jack was pretty sure she wasn't even listening to what he was saying. "It's just so to get your attention."

"I figured," Jack replied dryly. Was it just him, or was Bo trying to not-so-subtly inch closer to him step by step?

At that moment, Hazel emitted a tiny, awkward laugh, having stayed silent until now. This really wasn't anything that happened at her old school.

Bo's eyes zeroed in on her, noticing her for the first time (Just like how Cody didn't notice her when he was too busy being a jerk to Conrad. Hazel was beginning to think that she just blended in very easily). And at that moment, all niceties dropped. Bo frowned, dismay clear on her face. "Who's this?" She turned to Jack again, only she seemed a little accusing this time. "Your girlfriend?"

"Oh my god, can't I meet a female without you triplets automatically assuming that every time?" Jack groaned. "I'm not doing anybody!"

"Maybe not, but what about dating? Doing and dating are two completely different things," Bo pointed out rather nastily.

Jack couldn't help but face palm.

Unfortunately, that gesture gave Bo the wrong idea. "So she is your girlfriend!" By now, Jo and Flo were exchanging troubled looks, seemingly not so pleased with their sister's behavior.

"Actually, I'm not—" Hazel tried to say, but was rudely cut off by Bo.

"Don't you try to cover it up." Bo narrowed her eyes. "That's what all girls do when they realize they have competition. What's your name?"

"Hazel..." Now Hazel was becoming even more uncomfortable.

"Well, _Hazel_," Bo spat out that name as if it were acid, "I don't see how Jack could ever like you. I mean, I'm so much prettier, while you're so...so average. And where'd you get those shoes anyway?" She looked down at Hazel's brown, leather, lace up boots. "They look like they were bought at a lousy thrift shop. Do you not possess any fashion sense at all? Or are you just this dumb? You don't seem too smart to me." She addressed Jack, "I thought you had higher standards than this, Jackson."

"Bo, that's enough," Cici said in annoyance. "Hazel's new here, and she just met all of us today. I doubt either she or Jack would be so quick to engage in a romantic relationship."

"Are you telling me something, Celine?" Bo snapped. "What exactly are you implying? That you have the right to be protective of your man while I can't be protective of mine?"

"I'm not your man," Jack growled, his patience having worn thin when Bo started directing that string of insults at Hazel.

"And what's wrong with thrift shops in the first place?" Zander added. "Half of my clothes came from thrift shops!"

Cici turned out to have been still a little indignant from the whole Spencer incident, since she flared up at Bo's retort. "You're being out of line. I think you and your sisters should go."

"Aw, are you trying to play mommy with everyone here?" Bo began to taunt. "You've always been like this, Celine. You're a wannabe. You try to be so mature, and so perfect. Well, let me tell you this. You've annoyed so many of your peers because of that. Believe me when I say that nobody likes the girl who oh-so-desperately tries to be without flaws. Tell me, why do you do this? Is it your inferiority complex?" Seeing Cici wince slightly at this, she smirked triumphantly. "I'm right, aren't I? Why do you have that complex? Were you naturally born this insecure? Or is there something you're trying to keep secret?"

"Bo, stop it," Jack tried to interfere.

"I hate to say it, Jackson, but stay out of this. I'm talking to Celine right now," Bo haughtily said. "But I can't help but be a little curious. Do you, by any chance, happen to know what I'm hinting at?" She attacked Cici again, "You told him but not anybody else? I always knew you were a slut—telling men your dirty, little secrets in order to tempt them."

"He confronted me about it. I had no choice but to tell." Cici tried to stay strong, but her voice wavered.

"Oh, really? Couldn't you have just refused? I don't see that as not having a choice."

"Bo, Cici really couldn't weasel out of it. I kept on pressing until she came clean," Jack attempted to defend once again.

"Jack, what are you guys talking about?" Zander finally questioned.

"Yeah, what secret is there?" Spencer frowned.

"Not much, except that her own mother is a revolting, rotten whore who was impregnated by a random guy she happened to be dating when she was only a teenager," Bo loftily dropped the bomb. "Like mother, like daughter, am I right?"

A few seconds of stunned silence followed, until Cici shakily asked, "How do you even know about that?"

"Word goes around," Bo cryptically said, smiling maliciously. "Just some advice though—make sure your diary is safely put away somewhere other than your backpack. You never know when it might fall out and end up getting picked up by someone else." She searched through her bag and pulled out a miniature, black notebook. "After all, who knows how you'd feel if that someone would eventually read it out loud in public? Then all those tiny things you've kept hidden inside of you would be out, floating along with the daily gossip that goes around."

Spencer finally found his voice. "Okay, you know what, you can't just do that to someone who's never done anything bad to you."

"And why not? I've already read every entry in here, so what difference would it make if I did it again, only out loud this time?" Bo teased, feigning innocence.

"Give that back to her!"

Spencer made a grab for the notebook, but Bo was faster. She held it out of his reach, and at the same time, Zander and Jack realized their own opportunity to take it while she was busy handling Spencer. Simultaneously, they lunged for it, and probably would've collided against each other if all movement didn't freeze when a familiar voice sounded over the noise of the scuffle.

"What the _fuck_ is going on here?!"

All eyes landed on an exasperated Cody, who was holding onto a smoothie. "I let you guys go for one minute and I find this?! Is this what goes on when I'm not around?!"

"Things aren't much better even when you are with us," Zander muttered.

"What are you doing here anyway?" Jack asked.

"You all took too long," Cody bit out. "Either you're extreme slowpokes or something happened. I bet on the second option, and surprise, guess who was right. Now can someone tell me what's going on?"

"Fine, if you're dying to know. Bo Robinson is threatening to expose Cici's secret, which is conveniently one that she feels very sensitive about, by reading her diary out loud in front of a bunch of people. The rest of us were just trying to get it back," Jack breathed.

"Are you shitting me?" Cody deadpanned. "How does something involving those stupid triplets hitting on Spencer turn into something involving one of said stupid triplets causing drama?"

"I'm not stupid," Bo huffed.

"It kind of started with me, really," Hazel piped up. "I made Bo think that there was something going on between Jack and me, and Cici was only trying to stand up for me."

"Think? What do you mean by think?" Bo questioned scornfully. "We all know that what I say is true. Looks like Celine isn't the only slut around here." Her eyes left Hazel's face and trailed down to look at—oh god no. "He'll dump you soon enough, surely. There's no way he'll stay with a girl who doesn't even have the proof that she's a girl."

Tears welled up in Hazel's eyes. She fought them down though; there was no need to have herself labeled as a crybaby next. But this really wasn't one of her best moments. Not only did she have a grumpy boy point out her lack of a chest, but now a girl was doing it too. And that made it about ten times worse, because girls should understand that not all of them could have big busts. Maybe guys couldn't get that through their minds, but girls were supposed to be different. She had believed her first day at Burgess High would be pretty good at first, but those thoughts were beginning to turn around. She may have met a few nice people, but right now, they seemed like nothing compared to the mean ones. However, her train of thought dissolved once she heard Cody speak up.

"Okay, that's it. I have a perfectly good smoothie right here, and it'd really be a huge waste if it went from in this cup to onto someone's head," he said casually. "And currently, this hand is growing more and more tempted to make sure that happens. If you want to avoid that, then you might want to scram before I lose control."

"Yeah, right. I'm not scared," Bo scoffed, thinking Cody was bluffing. No boy she'd ever met had possessed the guts to carry on with their threats when it came to girls.

"Don't think I won't do it. After all, I've done it before. I'm pretty sure you know what I'm talking about, considering everyone was in the cafeteria when I dumped this shit right on to Samson Fisher. Just because you're a female doesn't mean I'm afraid of making sure you get what you deserve." Cody's eyes narrowed as he completely defied exactly what Bo was thinking. "You said you weren't stupid, didn't you? Then prove it to me. Prove that you have enough sense in that little brain of yours to realize that I'm not fooling around. Because even though the thing you value most is your dignity right now, I know that that's going to change once I actually do what I keep telling you I'll do. You wouldn't want that hair you worked so hard to style this morning to be ruined all because you refused to heed my warning, would you?"

Bo glared. "You know, you—" she began.

"Bo, just drop it," a voice, one that had been silent before, abruptly sounded. Bo turned to look at Flo, who had a defiant expression plastered on her face. "We really ought to leave. Just give Celine back her diary."

Bo's face contorted into a huge scowl, but she complied—by throwing the black notebook right at Cody. It hit him hard on the elbow of the arm that happened to be holding that smoothie, causing him to accidentally splash the smoothie right onto his own face. Bo chuckled cruelly, Jo, who was still quiet, seemed uncomfortable, while Flo simply looked plain old horrified.

His expression still unchanging, Cody wiped his eyes clean with his free hand. "If my face wasn't dripping with slush right now, I'd slam you into the wall."

"Come on, girls, let's go," Bo announced, flipping her hair. She was about to sashay away when she whispered severely to Cici, who was quick to pick up her diary after it landed on the floor, "Don't think you're safe now. I had suspected that I would be forced to give it back. I've made copies of your most personal writings, and you wouldn't want them to get out, now do you?"

Cici's voice caught in her throat. Satisfied with the reaction she got, Bo strutted off. After some hesitation, Jo followed. However, Flo stayed behind.

"I'm so sorry about her," she quickly said. "She can be an utter bitch."

"No shit," Cody voiced flatly, now attempting to wipe off the remaining contents with his sleeve.

Flo took a napkin from her pocket and offered it to him. She half-expected him to stare at it like it were some kind of bomb, but thankfully, he took it without pausing.

"Flo!" Bo barked from a distance away.

"Coming!" Flo called back. "Keep the napkin," she hurriedly told Cody before rushing off.

Done wiping his face clean, Cody gave the napkin to Jack. "You can have this."

"Why?" Jack had visible chagrin on his face, not enjoying being offered a dirty napkin.

"She's _your_ fangirl."

"Just throw it away! Nobody's going to find any use for it now that it has your mango smoothie all over it!"

"I swear this is the first time I've seen you get hoisted by your own petard," Zander remarked.

"Oh yeah, she's good, I'll give her props for that." With a pause, Cody spoke again, this time with obvious irritation in his voice, "Do you think it's good revenge if I fill this smoothie cup up with rocks and chuck it at her—"

"Please don't do that, you don't have to sink to her level," Jack interrupted.

"I thought I've already sunk deeper than that."

"You... Did you just stand up for me?" Hazel finally found her voice. "She... She was insulting me and then you just..." _Maybe he's not so bad after all..._

Cody looked at her as if she were crazy. "What? No. She was just wasting my time. I wanted to be done with her and go back to finishing my lunch as quick as possible."

_I stand corrected. He was just being selfish,_ Hazel thought to herself bitterly.

"Hey, what are all of you doing, standing out here?" Anton appeared, then stopped once he saw a tearful Cici, a Cody who still had some small mango stains on his face, and the uncomfortable expressions of everybody else.

Ignoring his question, Zander asked, "Where the hell have you been?"

"I was talking to my dad about my driving issues. And I missed something, didn't I?"

"One way to sum the whole thing up is that one of the Robinson triplets is a complete bitch," Jack stated. "Come on, let's all head back to the cafeteria. We'll give you the full story then."

* * *

"So how was school today?" Colin greeted his daughter the minute she stepped in through the front door.

Hazel sighed. How was school today? "Okay, I guess."

Colin frowned. "That's always been your answer whenever something bad has happened. What's wrong?"

"It's nothing huge, honest," Hazel insisted. "Just... I met a whole bunch of people today. Most of them are really nice, but some of them... Not so much."

Colin's frown deepened. "Do you need me to call their parents? Tell me, who are they?"

"Dad, no, don't do that," Hazel sighed. "Nothing too terrible has happened." _To be honest, I think Cici had it far worse._ "Besides, this is high school. Undoubtedly, things aren't always going to flow well for me."

"Honey, at your old school, you were picked on by a group of girls because of your introverted personality the first day you became a freshman, and you refused to tell me until I found out about it during your sophomore year. Remember that?"

Hazel nodded. She had experience with being flung some rather vicious words in her life.

"Exactly. And you promised that the next time you get bullied, you'll tell me. You're right that drama is almost mandatory when it comes to high school, but don't you think that it's about time that things got better for you?"

He had a good point. But...she was sure she met at least one person today who was more than willing to defend her like a true friend should. After all, during lunch, Cici had stood up for her, and then Jack, Spencer, and Zander stood up for Cici. "It's really not that big of a deal," she finally said. "It really has been getting better. Like I said, I've met some good people today. And they all seem genuinely sweet. If something does happen, they'll jump in for me. And if they don't, then I'll tell you what's been going on."

**...What the hell...did I just type. This chapter was originally meant to be a really boring one that was supposed to be a buildup to the more interesting things later. It was never meant to contain so much drama in it, but apparently my fingers like to type on their own (Fuuuuuun).**

**On the bright side, I like it better than what I had planned. So I'm keeping it.**

**Happy (early) New Year to all of you, by the way. I might end up updating again either on the Eve or on the 1st, but no promises, so don't get your hopes up. You guys got enough chapter presents for Christmas from me already.**

**Out of the main five guys (the twins, Jack, Cody, and Anton), who would manage to hold in their liquor the best? Legit question that I'm seriously asking.**

**Replies:**

**Brass Sparrow: Congrats on being the first one! Not going to lie, I'm going to enjoy writing this far more than I enjoyed writing Powerless Guardian (assuming my motivation doesn't end up deteriorating). It'll get a whole lot darker too. And, maybe, somewhere along the line, there are going to be some character deaths... ;] (Don't worry, it's not any of the main five, I like them way too much) AND YES I HAVE SEEN THE HTTYD TRAILER. HOLY FREAKING CRAP. Frankly speaking, even though I do find Hiccup attractive, I'm sort of not used to seeing him post-puberty at the same time. As for Astrid, I kind of preferred her old look. My friends and my mom all think they both look weird though :/**

**Maximus Potter: What did you expect? He's Cody Gray, and he oozes negativity and insults lulz.**

**Blue Torpedo: We'll see.**

**Faliara: I can guarantee that these new OCs will end up being developed more.** **It's only the second chapter, and I can't exactly make them very well-rounded like the Hell's Angels (who are the main five). Remember when Cody and Anton weren't as rounded at first in Powerless Guardian? Ah... Good times (not. I prefer the current Cody and Anton way more).**

**Rigoudon3: Hm... Well, Adrenaline (to the other people reading this, that's not really her name, though it's similar to it), considering you have just read this for the first time with no previews whatsoever, you'll have to leave a longer review this time around, am I right? (Okay if anyone other than Addie is reading this I have a good excuse for why she's allowed a sneak peek at my chapters before the rest of you... She's my school friend *wandering eyes*)**

**mandamichelle: My money's on Anton. Cody will be canonically taken soon.**

**ArkieR: Yeah, there's still something about her that I haven't mentioned yet...**

**Rainflower: Hm... I don't know, I mean I don't really have that many plans when it comes to the Guardians and Manny, so yeah, there's a chance that that could work out. My love for Nightlight helps, but you know what doesn't? The fact that I haven't read any of the books. The only thing I really know about Nightlight is that he's a boy who's around Jack's age, he's the messenger for Manny, and he's as quiet as Sandy. I can't really think of a way for him to communicate with Jack without it ending up as a game of charades, haha (Fun fact: Back when I had that Cody obsession, I briefly wondered what it would be like if he were Nightlight. Then it just became hilarious once someone told me that Nightlight was created by bursting out of Pitch's stomach and we all know the relationship Cody has with Pitch lol).**

**DjinnAtwood: Sit in a tree doing what? Lol I'm kidding. It's not just you ;)**

**Sloppy Joe 313: Sort of. But conflicts aren't all they're going to have...if you know what I mean...**

**Sol's Darkness: I like the way you think. Judging from my author's notes, what do you think of my personality? :] Anyway, no, Samson isn't going to be a problem. I mean, he'll appear and stuff involving him is going to happen, but he's not really going to be messing with our heroes this time around. I think Conrad is more or less the bad guy here.**

**Lolxxx: Rapid-fire question—Which one of the main five would you want to go to your school with?**

**Novalunni: Hopefully you do.**

**storygirl99210: Oh yes. This will get very funny.**

**Artimes' Thorn: Like I said at the end of the last chapter, it's not. If you really think about it, what's so insulting about 'I'll slap you black'? I find it harmless and not racist at all. I mean, it's not like I made Jack get all offended. _That_ would've be racist.**

**leafninja667: As much as I would love to, I can't do that. If I do that, then Hazel will become a rather pointless character.**

**Doctor Skittles: ...What reasons?**

**ReganRocks: Believe me, I feel you. I'm not like in love with him like you are, but I am attracted to him. But since I've had him and Hazel in my mind for a long time, I've kind of began to ship them. (But hey, if you want to imagine them eventually having a huge dramatic break up, be my guest.)**

**Byeeee and review~**


	3. In Which Spencer Gets Busted by Cici

"Hey, you alright?"

Hazel snapped out of her reverie and turned to look at Conrad. "Yeah, why?"

Conrad frowned. "You seem a little out of it. Something the matter?"

Hazel sighed. "It's nothing. Just that things kind of went downhill on my first day yesterday. I'm a little paranoid that today will be equally bad."

"Oh god, what happened?" Conrad became concerned.

Hazel gazed at him for a long moment. Anton's words seemed to echo in her mind, _There's no such thing as a teenage boy who's that social, that friendly, and that...perfect. At least, not one who means it._ What made him think that about Conrad? Judging from meeting him yesterday, Anton was a down-to-earth person who was unlikely to quickly opine. He _did _mention something about how Conrad was holding a grudge against him, but now that Hazel was looking at the latter, she simply couldn't believe it.

"Sort of...ran into a mean girl," she finally breathed, looking the other way. There, she said it. "Bo Robinson. She insulted me and threatened my friend, Cici. Luckily for us, her sister Flo stopped her, which is surprising since you'd think she would side with her sister. It was sort of like blackmail, except Bo didn't tell us we had to do anything to prevent her from carrying out that said threat. Which, to me, is a whole lot worse because then you'll never know when Bo will grow bored and do something just to see chaos go. Not everyone agrees with me though, since the way they look at it, threats coming with blackmail are worse because there's a possibility that the threatener will still cross the line even after making the threatened people do all the stuff they ordered them to do. And—"

She heard a thud, and turned again to see a groaning Conrad on the floor and an unfazed Cody sitting in the seat the former had been in only a moment ago.

"Really?" Hazel deadpanned, giving Cody an unimpressed glare. "Is that what you're going to be doing everyday?"

"I won't do it as long as he stops sitting in my seat."

"It's not _your_ seat! This is probably like the only class in this school with no assigned seats! So why don't you stop attacking people who did nothing wrong?!" Hazel snapped furiously. "The least you could've done was act polite—"

"Hazel, it's fine. Don't worry about it." Conrad casually got up and sat down in the empty chair on the other side of Hazel. "I really don't mind at all."

"No, it's not fine! Conrad, he's a jerk who bullies people!" Hazel protested. "I mean, why do you all not stand up for yourselves?! Am I the only one who thinks to do that?! He's a heartless and uncaring person and needs to see how exactly he's treating everyone around him!"

"I'm right here," Cody reminded, but otherwise looked like he didn't just hear Hazel say that.

"I know you're here, which is why I'm saying this!" Hazel bit out.

"Okay, I expected a girl like you to try harder to disguise the fact that you don't like me," Cody remarked. "But whatever, I don't really care anyway."

"You're not even listening to what I'm trying to say, are you?!" Hazel exclaimed.

"Oh, I actually am. I'm just choosing not to follow."

Conrad leaned in and asked quietly, "Is this the part where the two of you decide to finish arguing and begin to make out as amendment?"

Cody apparently heard that because he and Hazel shouted in unison, "No!"

Conrad speculated the two of them, then decided, "Hey, you two really would make an interesting couple. Check it, the emo dude who hates the world and the new girl who does her best to fulfill morals everywhere. You know what they say, opposites attract—"

"—and don't last," Cody interrupted.

"Aw, come on, you should try it out," Conrad insisted.

"What is this, like her second day here? Also I don't do dating."

"Come _on_! It'll be good dating practice."

"Practice? That's a little offesnive," Hazel frowned.

"Sorry, Hazel, I didn't mean it that way," Conrad hastily apologized before continuing to persist towards Cody, "Just think of the fun you'll have stripping down in front of her!"

"What?!" Hazel flushed.

Cody looked at Hazel. "Does that reaction indicate that you really want me to rip my clothes off in your bedroom? Because if so, you're chasing your tail."

"Huh? No!"

"Good. Anyway, you are coming with me outside," Cody announced, pulling Hazel up out of her chair as he himself stood up. He dragged her out of the classroom, then immediately growled, "That asshole is trying to embarrass the both of us and you're letting him."

"What? No he's not!" Hazel defended. "He's just giving his honest opinion."

"Are you stupid? It's so obvious that that's not it at all and yet you let him do it while when _I'm_ the one giving my honest opinion, you end up telling me off like that's fucking favoritism!"

"Stop saying that word!" Hazel snapped.

"Which one, favoritism?"

"No! The F-word!"

"...Favoritism is an F-word."

"The other F-word! The swear word!"

"Oh, fuck?"

"Yes! Now stop using it! There's no need to use it!"

"Fucking sure I'll fucking stop once you fucking stop being so fucking dumb and realize that I'm fucking right about that fucking dick and fucking open your fucking goddamn eyes." He sounded utterly serious, and Hazel had a hunch that he wasn't just doing that to mock her.

The late bell rung.

Hazel's jaw dropped, then she smacked Cody right on his head. "Now we're considered late for class when we really arrived minutes ago! It's all your fault!" She didn't wait for a response and simply stormed back inside.

"You were the one who kept on disagreeing!" Cody argued as he followed her.

"Cody, Hazel, please just sit down," Miss McCarthy sighed, standing up from behind her desk.

* * *

"Where are you taking me?" Hazel panted as Cody roughly pulled her along after class.

An extremely unamused Cody only continued to drag her down the hallway until they reached her locker. As always, Anton was there already.

Anton's eyes darted from Cody to Hazel. "What's the problem?"

"Tell this new girl to stop being so goddamn naive around people like that Montgomery douche," Cody snapped. "I have a feeling she likes you better so _maybe_ she'll listen to you instead."

"It'd be nice if you could refer to me by my name," Hazel only stated.

"I didn't even know your name until this morning when McCarthy used it!" Cody groaned.

"Wait, for real?" Anton questioned.

"Hey, it's not like she told me it from the start. I just happened to not hear it until an hour ago."

"That's nice of you," Hazel said sarcastically. "Anyway, why are you so mad about Conrad?"

"Because he thinks you're gullible enough to fall for that mask, and all you've been doing so far is showing him that he's right about that! And, like you saw in the classroom, he also tried to target me, and thanks to your reactions, you almost satisfied him!"

"In what?!" Hazel exclaimed in confusion.

"In trying to fluster us! I told you that already! He wanted to see our faces turn red and then rub it in just so he could cackle to himself with glee!"

"I'm not following this conversation," Anton remarked.

"Conrad pressured us and said that the two of us should just fuck," Cody delivered bluntly. "Predictably, Hazel got rather embarrassed."

Ignoring the slight satisfaction she got from his finally calling her by her name, Hazel argued, "Like I said, he was giving his honest opinion. I'm pretty sure he didn't mean any ill will by it."

"Oh, I'm pretty sure he did," Anton disagreed. "Didn't I say this yesterday? He's not who he seems to be."

"What's with all the drama between you boys? I thought girls were the ones who turned high school into a classic soap opera."

"You'd be surprised once you see how bad things can get between two guys," Anton said. "We just don't go around making sure everyone knows about the drama. And half the time, we simply punch it out then forgive each other."

"Me and you definitely aren't like that," Cody commented, looking at the Asian redhead.

"Huh? Oh yeah. Wait, why did we start fighting again?"

Cody shrugged. "I don't know, I think I slapped you then you never forgave me for that."

"Yeah, I remember that because of how much it _stung_. I don't really care now though. But what caused you to hit me in the first place?"

"Beats me."

"You guys don't act like you hate each other's guts," Hazel pointed out.

"Oh no, we do," Cody insisted. "You just haven't seen us argue yet. It's just that now there really isn't much to pick a fight about."

"True, and we did call that awkward truce because of how bothersome it was becoming to the others," Anton added.

"I don't think it really changed much though."

"I can't get to my locker because you're standing in the way. Again," Hazel interrupted patiently, looking at Cody. Fortunately, he stood aside. "Don't you need to head to your own locker?"

"Yeah. But I'm serious about Conrad. Stop trusting him, and you—" Cody gave Anton a knowing glance. "—make sure she doesn't trust him." He walked away.

Once he was out of earshot, Hazel, having already taken out her calculus book, slammed her locker door hard, finally showing just how annoyed she was.

"Can you start closing that locker more gently? These doors are all a little rusty and at this rate, you're going to wreck it. And since my dad's the vice principal, he's probably going to end up blaming me for it because it happens to be the locker right next to mine and I should 'take more responsibility with handling the lockers around me,'" Anton complained.

"Sorry," Hazel replied tersely, before beginning to vent, "Just who does he think he is?! He's so uncaring and unrepentant and thinks all his assumptions are accurate! Why is he like this?! What's _wrong _with him?!"

Anton paused, then hesitatingly asked, "Is that a rhetorical or legit question? Because I can actually answer that if you want me to—"

"No, I don't want you to. I don't think I even want to know," Hazel moaned, propping her back against her locker. "It's just that I don't think I can last the rest of the school year with him in my first class every single day of the week. And I tend to be less cheerful in the mornings."

"You should see me on the weekends," Anton grinned. "I sleep in till noon because I'm so grumpy when I first get up on the weekdays. In fact, I doubt there's any such thing as a teenager who truly is a morning person."

"That's true," Hazel agreed, before going back to the topic of Cody. "But seriously, I don't think I can deal with him for much longer. It's only my second day and I'm already losing my head."

"Look, I'll be okay with however your relationship ends up being, whether it's good or bad. But I'm going to have to ask you to please not make me the middleman in your arguments, because the way Cody automatically dragged you here kind of implied that's what he's starting to view me to be."

* * *

"Hey, Bo!" Conrad greeted, approaching the redhead at her locker.

Bo shot him an uninterested glance. "Conrad, right? What do you want?"

"Don't worry, this will be quick," Conrad said cheerfully.

"Oh, really? Then start acting like it'll be quick." Bo impatiently checked the time on her phone screen. "I have better things to do than to talk to people like you."

Conrad grabbed her by the arm and began to drag her elsewhere. Bo began to protest, struggling to pry his fingers off of her skin. She failed, however, and Conrad stopped in front of the janitor's closet and pushed her inside. He closed the door shut behind them.

"Hey, what's the big idea?" Bo scolded. "If you think I'm willing to have a little fling with you in here, then you're wrong. I learned that lesson back in junior year when the punch got spiked at prom," she mumbled that last part. She wasn't about to do anything with a random guy—having a one night stand with Anton Suzuki was more than enough. Besides, she'd much rather be in the janitor's closet with Jack.

"I'm not here for romance. I heard from a little birdie that you happened to have a little brouhaha with Hazel Campbell and her friend," Conrad casually said, his lighthearted demeanor disappearing to reveal a much colder personality.

"Oh yeah. Celine Sanders," Bo yawned. "Well, she was asking for it."

"Of course she was. You wouldn't have done anything if she wasn't, right?" Conrad, for the most part, didn't seem to care whether or not Cici had deserved what she had gotten.

Bo glared. "Listen, if you dragged me all the way here inside this filthy closet just to lecture me about how I'm supposed to treat people the way I want to be treated—"

"That's not what I want to talk to you about. In fact, it's the exact opposite. I have something to settle with one certain guy, and I'm sure you know who he is too. Tell me, do you have any memory of losing your virginity to Anton Suzuki?" Conrad smirked when Bo's eyes widened.

"How do you—"

"How do I know that? Simple, he told me, fair and square. I used to eat lunch with him before he decided to leave for that pack of misfits he constantly enjoys himself with. I don't see how he manages to tolerate that violent beast of a high school student that I so happen to share my first class with." Conrad rolled his eyes, rubbing his side, which was still throbbing a little bit from Cody's kick that morning.

"I still don't see why I'm here."

"I also share first period with Hazel. That girl had been so desperate to make a new friend on her first day, she fell right into my trap the second I said hello. She told me exactly what happened yesterday during lunch, and I'm impressed. So I wanted to ask you if you want to help me give Anton his little share of karma."

"I'm not interested in your petty act for revenge," Bo stated rather matter-of-factly. "I'm sorry—I don't mean that—but I'm not going to accept your offer. I couldn't care less about Jackson's friends, and going after them is not going to help me get on Jackson's good side."

To her surprise, Conrad shrugged. "Suit yourself. Decline if you want. But let me just say this," he began, remembering the brief mention of Flo Hazel had given earlier, "I have a feeling that you're going to change your mind soon enough. One very good reason for you to begin helping me with this will pop up. Very, very soon." With that, he opened the door and left the closet, leaving a stunned Bo standing there.

* * *

Hazel sat at the lunch table with Cici in silence. The blonde seemed to become very quiet after the whole fiasco yesterday, and Hazel could understand why. Bo Robinson's behavior had clearly crossed the line, and Cici had been subject to most of it. That kind of attitude had the potential to render anyone speechless for a couple days.

"Your mother must actually be very lovely, I'm sure of it," Hazel blurted out without thinking. It was the first reassuring thing that came to her mind. Cici looked up from her lunch, looking more than a little taken aback.

"Well... Thank you," she tentatively replied. "But sadly, not everyone really looks past the mistakes she made while in high school."

Hazel began to nod in agreement, but stopped in realization. "Wait... Mistake? You're not calling yourself a mistake, are you? Because you're really not. I don't think you are. I think you're really nice and you're honestly the first girl I met and talked to yesterday, so by the looks of it, I think we can be good friends," she rambled quickly.

Cici blinked. "Really? You think that?"

Hazel nodded again. "Yeah, I'm positive. You shouldn't mind anything that Bo said to you. She was being mean to everybody, so it's not like she singled you out. I'm sure all she wanted was to make you uncomfortable and see you squirm. Horrible people like her get enjoyment in seeing other people cower at her words." She set down her salad fork and took Cici's left hand, which was propped on the table. "Trust me, this is the kind of stuff I've been through before. I'm not saying I'm completely immune from feeling hurt after being bullied, but I've gone through more than enough of this to understand what it is she wants."

Cici stayed silent for a moment, then smiled. "You're a pretty nice person yourself."

Hazel let go of her hand. "Well... I try to be... Sometimes I can't help but be a little mean." She gazed over to the table where Jack, Zander, Spencer, Cody, and Anton sat at. "_Especially_ when that someone is being rude."

Cici appeared to catch on to what she was referring to. "Has he been bothering you again? Did he make any more crude remarks?"

"Not necessarily. I just don't like his attitude," Hazel sighed. "After being a victim of bullying for so long, I can't stand people who think it's okay to treat someone disrespectfully like it's nothing. I know I'm probably being overly sensitive when it comes to him, but..."

Cici waved a hand. "No, I understand. It's natural for you to feel that way. But really, what happened with him today?"

"Just...some issues with Conrad Montgomery," Hazel confessed. "Cody's making it pretty obvious that he doesn't like him. And neither does Anton."

"Conrad? He's been a couple of my classes before, but I can't really say I talked to him except for a few times to ask him about stuff involving work," Cici mused. "So I don't think I can really say anything about that, considering I don't know what kind of person he's like."

"Oh, he's very friendly!" Hazel immediately replied. "He warmed up to me the second he sat down next to me. I don't see why Cody and Anton have something against him."

"I don't know about Cody, but from what I've seen of Anton, I doubt he'd go jumping to conclusions about people. What's your idea on why he dislikes Conrad?"

"He mentioned something about how Conrad's been giving him dirty looks when nobody's looking," Hazel informed, "because of how he used to be friends with this guy named Samson Fisher and Conrad didn't appreciate him leaving them. And that's it. He didn't explain after that."

"If Anton's going to say something like that, chances are it's true," Cici inputted.

"I never said I thought he was lying. I told him that maybe Conrad just misunderstood the situation and thought he ditched them for no apparent reason, but he didn't believe me. I think the two of them should talk it out and clear this mess up."

"Assuming that they do that, what if things only end up getting worse?"

Hazel winced, not wanting to think about that. "At least there's also a chance that they'll get better. It's a risk that they have to take if they want to move forward." She picked up her milk carton. "Anyway, do you want my milk?"

"Uh, sure. Aren't you going to drink it though?"

"No, I'm allergic to dairy. That lunch lady just automatically gave me milk before I could even say anything."

* * *

"Dude, are you okay?" Zander asked Spencer, as the latter was quietly observing Cici from afar.

"I'm fine, why?" Spencer turned to look at his brother.

"You keep on staring at Cici with this slightly betrayed look on your face like she did something wrong. Don't tell me you're upset about what happened yesterday still?"

"What's there to be upset about?" Jack asked. "Well, other than how my crazy fangirl decided it'd be cool to act like that."

Spencer sighed. "I'm not _upset_, I just... I just wish Cici could've told me that secret of hers so I didn't have to hear it for the first time coming out of Bo's mouth."

"...You're upset if you feel that way," Zander stated. "And, uh, need I remind you that she didn't tell anyone else? None of us knew."

"Jack did," Spencer accused.

"Yeah, okay, like I said before, she didn't really have a choice when she told me," Jack pointed out. "I had gone to her front door and refused to leave until I knew."

"Jack, you can't just go over to someone's house and demand for answers like that," Anton groaned.

"Why not? It worked."

"Yeah, because it's Cici. If you had actually gone over to my house to confront me about my sister, I most likely would've ended up socking you in the face," Cody remarked, sipping his smoothie. "I'm not one to be in the mood for that type of shit over the weekend. I go through enough of that here already."

"What stopped you from socking me in the face when I visited you at the hospital? There's no difference there."

"Nope. No difference at all, other than the fact that I was in a hospital bed and didn't possess the motivation to get up," Cody muttered.

Feeling a storm coming on, Jack kept his mouth shut. "So what do you guys think of that new girl, Hazel?" he asked instead, beginning a new conversation.

"Seems decent enough," was Zander's reply.

"I didn't really talk to her, so I don't think I have the right to offer my impression," Spencer said.

"She's great, actually. I enjoy having small talk with her between classes at our lockers," Anton told Jack.

Jack turned to Cody. "What about you?"

Cody looked up from his lunch. "What _about_ me?"

Jack frowned. "Didn't you hear my question at all?"

"Oh, I heard it. I just don't find it necessary to give my honest opinion about her. She tends to not like that, so I'm simply preventing my own spleen from being torn out."

Jack rolled his eyes. "She's all the way over there. Come on, you can say it."

"...Two things." Cody held up two fingers to count down. "One, she's flat-chested. Two, she doesn't like me."

"Here's a thought," Anton snarked. "Maybe she doesn't like you _because_ you called her flat-chested!"

"You what?" Zander stared. "No wonder she was talking to Cici about that!"

"If that's the case, she overreacted," Cody said, completely unfazed. "And it's not like you guys didn't think that too when you first saw her."

"I didn't," Jack and Anton spoke in unison, while Zander only looked away.

"Come on, there are a lot of flat-chested girls at our school... Cici isn't too busty herself," Spencer piped up.

Zander looked behind his brother. "Right. Now I feel like we're in some kind of sitcom, because, uh..."

"...She's right behind me, isn't she?" Spencer gulped nervously as he began to sense some rather tranquil fury right behind him. He looked up to see Cici staring him down with the ultimate death glare, with Hazel standing right beside her. He looked at Zander. "Help..."

Zander shook his head. "Nah, I don't feel like it."

Spencer frantically turned to Cody, who really looked like he would be amused if he wasn't so deadpan all the time. "Help, you're the only hope I have left."

"Hey, what about us?" Jack frowned, motioning at Anton and himself.

"That is a cheerleader who knows how to spontaneously high kick. I'm not so stupid to screw with someone like her," Cody declined without a second glance at Spencer.

"Spencer, I think I'm going to have a chat with you," Cici snapped, taking Spencer's hand and dragging him away and out of the cafeteria.

Meanwhile, Hazel looked rather insulted. "Do you really think that I overreacted with that remark you made?"

"Of course I do," Cody replied, looking up to give her a raised eyebrow. "I say four little words, and that ends up with you despising me because you find me to have a heartless soul when you still didn't know what kind of person I am. Don't you think you took what I said a little too personally?"

"I don't think she would've liked you better even after she gave you a chance to show what kind of person you are," Anton murmured.

"It's funny how you start talking bad about people like Conrad when you're like a hundred times worse!" Hazel exploded. A couple people from tables nearby turned to stare at her, but she didn't care. "You're unbearable! This is only my second day here, yet I already can't stand you and your attitude! You're absolutely the worst!" She turned on her heel and stormed off.

"...Cody, don't you think you should go after her?" Jack voiced, after a moment of silence.

"Why? I didn't do anything wrong," Cody replied, seemingly not affected at all. "She needs to shape up and realize that not everybody's going to be nice to her here."

* * *

Hazel trudged through the hallway to the girl's bathroom. She went there subconsciously; it had always been a place for her to escape drama. She went inside and gazed at herself intensely in the mirror, until her eyes dropped to the sink below. She sighed. Maybe Cody had a point, maybe she really was taking everything a bit too personally. But that still didn't justify his behavior towards her—well, to everyone.

At that precise second, the handicap bathroom stall opened and a raven-haired girl exited, wielding a crumpled sheet of aluminum foil. She froze when she noticed Hazel, who looked back.

"You're...one of those Robinson triplets. Flo, right?" Hazel found her voice. She became a little wary, but shook that feeling off. She was the one who had gotten Bo to stop bugging them, wasn't she?

Flo nodded, going over to the trash can to throw away her foil. "Yeah."

Hazel waited for her to say something else, but she didn't. "Um... Shouldn't you be with your sisters?"

"Bo didn't show up for lunch," Flo said, now looking at her reflection and smoothing out her jet black hair. "Not that I'm complaining or anything. My life is a whole lot more peaceful without her anyway."

"Uh... Right." Hazel sensed the stiff atmosphere, but she continued nonetheless, "Speaking of Bo, thanks for yesterday, by the way. For, you know, preventing the fight from escalating."

"It's no problem. My sister's a bitch, so it's only right if I control that goddamn behavior of hers," Flo sighed, leaning against the bathroom wall. "But sometimes, I get sick of it, so I hide out here to take a break or something like that."

"Isn't it lonely when you're eating by yourself in that stall?"

"Sweetie, go through what I do on a daily basis and you will _treasure _the solitude. I savor the time I spend in there, because honestly, that's not anything that happens often. Bo usually catches me in the middle of trying to escape and chews me out. I hate the authority she forces onto me."

Hazel blinked in confusion. "Then... Why do you stay with her?"

"As much as I want to, I can't just up and leave," Flo sighed impatiently. "It's not that simple. Bo's not above going to malicious tactics to get back at somebody, even if that somebody is her own sister. If I leave, she'll be angry, and I don't need that kind of drama in my personal life."

Hazel bit her lip. "But...is it really worth being restricted under her?"

"Okay, if she ends up finding out that I'm talking to you, both of us are doomed," Flo announced, not willing to answer Hazel's question. "So I think it's best if I go. Bye." She walked out of the bathroom door and turned the corner.

Hazel stood still for a moment, but suddenly decided to rush out. "Flo!" she called out after the other girl. "I hope you at least consider what I'm trying to say!"

Flo didn't turn around, but she hollered back, "I wouldn't mind it if you called me Florence instead!"

**END. (Not THE end, but yeah, chapter end. Just some clarification here)**

**So you guys all know about that question concerning who out of the main five would hold their liquor in best? Almost everyone said Cody. That's hilarious (but surprisingly accurate). I'm going to go ahead and say that Jack would probably get drunk if he even gets one drop of alcohol down his throat. **

**Here's my new question****—****Who out of **_**all of the OCs**_** (this includes Hazel, the triplets, Conrad, Samson, Ariel, and anyone else I might be forgetting) could hold in their liquor the best? And don't say Cody this time, because believe it or not, he's not the correct answer.**

**Replies:**

**mandamichelle: No, Jack and Anton aren't going to get together, haha. Sorry to disappoint. I said Anton was the most likely candidate because, well... You'll see soon enough ;) But if I'm going to ship Jack with anyone, it would be with Zander (but Jack's not going to get together with anyone any time soon). Also, as for the question about who's going to win Cody over in terms of romance, that answer should be pretty easy to guess correctly. (But here's a hint anyway: These three chapters have been focusing on her a whole lot).**

**Sol's Darkness: *huffs angrily* You guys are the ones who make me moody... DON'T WORRY I'm only joking lol XD All of you (well, most of you) are great people. But yeah, you got my personality down to a tee. I try to be cheerful most of the time, but I do have a pretty stupid temper that often gets the best of me.**

**pearlsofwisdom: I know someone who's **_**worse**_** than Bo, oh my god. Mostly because she's not as open when it comes to being a bitch. Also, isn't Cody's bitchiness the whole reason why we all love him? :D**

**storygirl99210: I don't think Jo is changing, because to be honest, Jo's not going to speak for herself much. And I think Flo has always been like this, as you'll see in the next chapter I have planned. She's that girl who pretends to fawn over Jack then roll her eyes once nobody's looking. Also, I'll be sure to look for a way to give Bo her karma. I can hardly guarantee she'll die though, haha.**

**pineapplefreak: Ehhhhh... No, Jack hasn't had a drop of alcohol once in his life, haha.**

**Rainflower: Well, something big is going to happen to Jack soon, so if I were going to bring Nightlight in, he'll most likely only appear once and leave. Not sure if I want to just ditch him like that, so I don't know.**

**Lolxxx: Answer to your rapid-fire question****—****SPENCER. Not that I don't like him, it's just that in my brain, he ends up being murdered by a new serial killer in town, right in front of Zander's eyes, so Zander ends up joining the police force to track down his brother's murderer and gets really obsessed with that.**

**Doctor Skittles: WHAT ARE YOUR REASONS. HURRY UP AND TELL ME, WOMAN. (Bo lives next door to Cody. Nah, I'm kidding. You'll see where she lives soon enough.)**

**ArkieR: YOU SHIP THEM. GUUUUUD. I NEED SHIPPERS, PEOPLE.**

**Just MEC: ...Yeah, prepare to be surprised. Jack has never drunk alcohol before. Poor guy, doesn't know what he misses out on. Also, Cody and Anton will become canon...sort of? They're not getting together, but yeah, it's a little hard to explain, so I'll let you read in patience.**

**Frostpinkloverfr: Yes, it's a touchy subject for a lot of girls, but I don't see why it's so bad if Cody makes fun of Hazel for it. After all, he's not calling anyone else flat-chested. I've seen a whole bunch of shows where a girl's lack of a chest gets made fun of, so it's not like I'm the only one doing it. FYI, I am also a girl whose boobs aren't too gigantic, and I personally couldn't care less.**

**diskidi: I am determined to finish this series as fast as I can, so there's a pretty good chance I'm never discontinuing this :P**

**Faliara: Got a couple of more OCs to introduce, and sadly, none of them fit the loner image you described to me haha. Sorry :D**

**Ivy000: Happy... *looks at calendar* ...January 5th to you, dear Ivy. I'm sorry you're not too fond of Hazel, but then again, she is insecure like you suggested and **_**GOSH DARN IT WHY ARE YOU SO LUCKY YOU HAVE ALL THIS CONFIDENCE AND STABILITY AND THE PEOPLE AT YOUR SCHOOL AREN'T TOO MEAN AND **_**ugh :( Kidding, kidding. Sorry for the apparent OOCness of Bunny and North, but I never really thought I was good at writing them haha. Also, let's not mind Sophie please o_o And yeah, Mrs. Bennett can see the Guardians, since Jack had brought them up during his explanation to her. I don't think I explained it, so sorry.**

**Lil Angel 927: Don't worry, I'll try to find a way to get Bo what she deserves. Also, I never received that pole dancing picture :( ...But wait, Julchen had sent me something she found on the Internet. I'll link it to you after I'm done with this AN.**

**Marvel123: Don't feel dumb, I can see why someone would forget them. They were very minor in PG, after all. **

**Kifo Entiegon: You're the second person to suggest the death of Bo Robinson, wow. I can see why though.**

**Lovepuppy316: When I received the email saying you reviewed, the word 'boob' was censored. What the hell, FFN. And yes, Bo needs no better reason to act bitchy. **

**moocow4me: I'm sorry that you feel that way. I am aware these three chapters have been very Hazel-centric, but in my view, that's necessary. This is going to be a pretty long story (I am honest to god considering that it might be longer than PG itself), and naturally, Jack and his humanity aren't going to be the focus of every chapter. And the whole reason why Hazel's been hogging the spotlight so much is because she's basically my key to set up the whole plot for the sequel. Things are going to be happening to Jack later on, and they're technically things that Hazel (indirectly) caused. So yeah, she's important, so I can't get rid of her. But no worries, I'm pretty much done with setting the plot up (almost), and if things go as planned, then you're going to be getting a whole lot more Jack next chapter.**

**Review~**


	4. In Which Jack Gets a Facebook

It rained the next day. It had started around 9 in the morning, as a slight drizzle, but by the time school was over, it was a full on shower. It didn't show any signs of lightening up soon, and thunder and lightning were beginning to sound and appear when a soaking wet Jack swung the front door open.

Jack groaned and pulled off his hoodie, revealing the white T-shirt he had underneath. "It was all sunny yesterday! What happened?"

"Looks like spring showers are finally beginning to show themselves," Zander responded, coming in behind Jack. "Which is good, because I can't stand having the cold weather for too long. No offense, by the way."

"Winter isn't very fun when there's no snow to bury yourself in," Spencer added.

Jack glared at the twins, noticing that they were both holding umbrellas. "Your consideration to cease bringing that up warms my heart greatly. Also, I would've liked it if one of you shared your umbrella with me."

"These umbrellas aren't big enough to share. You would've gotten soaked anyway," Zander replied loftily, closing his umbrella and setting it in the umbrella stand.

While Spencer did the same, he said, "And I didn't have any more. Sorry."

"How did you guys know it would rain today anyway?"

"Dear god, I hope that you've heard of weather reports," Zander deadpanned.

"Who in the world watches weather reports nowadays?!"

"When the hell did I say anything about television? You can just check the weather on your phone."

"Besides, Mom makes me carry around two umbrellas in my backpack everyday, no matter how likely it'll rain," Spencer interjected.

"That damn spring spirit just likes to make things difficult," Jack muttered. "Everyone only notices her reputation for making flowers bloom, but they don't bother with the fact that she's also the cause for springtime rain..."

"Should we tell him that snow is basically frozen rain?" Spencer murmured to his brother.

"Nah, let the bad blood boil," Zander smirked.

Jack turned around. "What was that?"

"Nothing. So you said you needed help setting up a Facebook account, right?"

"Yeah. For the record, let me clarify something and say that I only want one because Anton told me about how I can join these things called Facebook groups and keep myself updated with my classes and stuff. So, can you help?"

"Sure. But you should be able to make an account yourself," Spencer replied.

"It took me like two whole weeks to figure out all the gizmos on my phone," Jack argued. "Don't you think it's better if I get someone else to do this for me?"

"Before I say yes, can I comment that I can't believe you just used the word 'gizmos'?" Zander flatlined.

"Just help me get used to the Internet, Anderson."

* * *

"I still can't believe I had to set up an email for you when you should really have one by now," Zander muttered, as a wondrous Jack explored his new Facebook account. "And stop acting like that thing's a gift sent from heaven."

"Oh, you mean it's not?" It was unclear if Jack was being legitimate or sarcastic.

"It's a social media site created by Mark Zuckerberg, and unless he turns out to be God in disguise, I don't see how it could be."

"But... But... This thing is unbelievable! Like it can actually find people I know and want to send a friend request to! How does Facebook do that?"

Zander turned to Spencer. "Ancient people never cease to amaze me with their level of ignorance concerning technology."

"You can't really blame him. He may seem caught up with the modern times, but he can never fully move on from the way things were during the colonial era," Spencer pointed out.

"Oh hey, Hazel has an account! I'll friend her," Jack voiced to himself, clicking the friend request button, oblivious to the Anderson twins' commentary and forgetting the entire reason why he wanted an account in the first place.

"I swear, the next time I log on to Facebook, I better not see a ton of pointless statuses from him at the top of my news feed, or else I'm gonna regret doing this favor for him," Zander announced.

Jack spun around, having heard that, and glared. "I'm not going to do that, you should have more faith in me." He paused. "But seriously, what should and shouldn't I post as a status?"

"I don't know, it depends on you." Spencer shrugged. "Just don't post anything too personal, I guess."

"So I can type that Anton had a one night stand with Bo Robinson?" Jack asked, sounding a little too hopeful for anyone else's liking.

"Do not," Zander replied firmly. "Sure, you _can_, but are you willing to deal with the uproar that follows? I saw you send him a friend request a few minutes ago, and assuming he accepts quickly, he's going to see that in his news feed. And if he doesn't accept for a few days, then word is just gonna get to him sooner or later."

"That guy may be very level-headed and patient, but I have a feeling seeing him angry will be quite a sight," Spencer smiled tentatively.

"'Quite a sight'? That's a really relative term, so let me ask you, on a scale of Spencer to Cody, to what extent is 'quite a sight'?" Jack inquired.

"Past Cody," Zander answered for his brother. "So yeah, pretty scary."

Jack bit his lip skeptically. "You sure about that? You're telling me the dude who threatened to slap my ethnicity out of me just for accusing his hair to be dyed is worse than the dude who beat up the Nightmare King with nothing but a stick."

"...Okay, so maybe not past _past_ Cody," Spencer sighed. "Just...able to be compared to him. Don't underestimate Anton's temper, I have a hunch you'll regret it if you do. There's a reason why people say the nicer the person is, the scarier they are when they're pushed to their limits."

"Yeah? And what about you? You're even nicer than Anton, and I've never seen you flip out to the point of intimidation," Zander questioned impassively.

"I'm an exception!" Spencer spoke quickly. "Besides, are you saying you _want_ me to be able to get extremely angry?"

"Not to me, no. But maybe to people who pick on us."

"Does that include Samson?" Jack intervened. "Because he hasn't really bothered any of us in a while. I wonder what made him stop."

"Does it matter?" Zander retorted. "He hasn't bugged us, and hopefully it'll stay this way. I'm not just gonna go up to him and ask him what's up."

"Hey, I wasn't complaining. I'm not willing to punch him in the face again, because I'm just plain exhausted with him."

Mrs. Bennett suddenly entered the room, holding the phone. "Jack, can you go to the mall to do me a favor? I purchased a toaster at Macy's, and I was going to pick it up this afternoon, but then it began raining."

"And... If you don't feel like going out, then why do I have to be your sub?" Jack questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"You're still young and less likely to not break your spine when you end up slipping on a mud puddle."

"I'm 300 years old. I mean, my math grade is terrible, but I'm pretty sure that's older than the rest of you combined."

Mrs. Bennett blinked, then spoke in an eerily calm voice, "You are going there for me to pick up my new toaster, or I'm going to make sure toast isn't the only thing going to burn by next morning."

Jack was taken aback. "Wha—"

"Go. _Now_."

"Yes, ma'am!" Jack squeaked, suddenly feeling afraid. He decided to change the scale from 'Spencer to Cody' to 'Spencer to Mrs. Jane Bennett'—burning was definitely not the type of fate a winter spirit would want to stumble upon.

He quickly got out of his sitting position on the bed and was walking past her and out the bedroom door when she added, "Oh, and put on the raincoat that's lying on the couch. By the way, don't leave your wet hoodie on the floor like you did. I don't appreciate having to pick up after you."

Jack only begrudgingly obeyed, while cursing everyone he found at fault—Mrs. Bennett for becoming harsher on him since the confession he made to her, Zander and Spencer for looking amused when she forced him to go outside into the pouring rain, and himself for being a hazard around rusty toasters.

* * *

"Jo told me you weren't with her at lunch yesterday," Bo abruptly announced, looking up from her romance novel. "Where were you?"

Leaning against one of the arms of the couch, Flo peered up from her phone, her eyebrows raised. "In the bathroom."

"For the entire lunch period?"

"I was shitting," Flo lied, going back to playing Candy Crush. "My stomach just began churning and I had to go emit all that waste through my butthole."

Bo looked disgusted. "Ugh, do you really have to phrase it like that?"

"You were the one who asked in the first place," an unimpressed Flo voiced. "And what's wrong with me phrasing it like that? It's just a natural cycle of the human body."

"You just make it sound utterly gross," Bo scoffed, staring down at the page her book was flipped to. She really wasn't buying Flo's dissatisfying explanation on why she was absent during lunch. "But really, why weren't you there?"

Flo sighed in exasperation. "What, is feeling the need to go to the bathroom not a good enough excuse for you?"

"You just sound like you're not telling me the truth. You're my triplet, so obviously I can tell when you're being truthful and when you're trying to lie. And my gut tells me you're lying right now."

"Okay," Flo snapped, sitting up. "So what if I am? Why do you need to know where I am 24/7?"

"Whoa, calm down." Bo was a little offended by her sister's testy attitude towards her. "As triplets, it's only right if I'm curious of your whereabouts."

"You're not just 'curious,' you're flat out nosy when it comes to my daily life," Flo said irritably, blowing a couple of loose strands of her hair from her face. "Just because we're two of a set of three doesn't mean you can go around sticking your ass in my business. Have you ever thought that I might want to keep some things to myself?"

"You really should cut that tone of yours." Bo narrowed her eyes. "But knowing you, you won't listen. You never listen to what I tell you to do."

"Or maybe I try to, but you're just too bossy to be grateful of the times when I do listen," Flo vented. "Besides, you don't exactly hear me out either."

"I see no point in listening to a reckless fool who is clearly inexperienced with life and how unfair it is," Bo scoffed, going back to her book. "As the oldest sister, I find myself having the job of making sure that the two of you, especially you, don't start up any antics."

"That's Mom and Dad's job, not yours!"

"Then what _is_ my job, going around and starting fights like you?"

"We wouldn't be fighting right now if you were a better sister than this!" Voices were beginning to raise. "In fact, I'd rather have you not in my life at all!"

Jo appeared, coming in from the kitchen. "Hey, what's going on?"

"Oh, nothing, just the middle child getting all restless again. Her syndrome is _really _affecting her," Bo responded coldly, still not looking up from her book.

Jo looked at Flo nervously. "Flo, maybe you should go to your room and think things over for a bit."

Holding back her sharp tongue, Flo looked at Jo. She didn't want to snap at her like she often did to Bo, because Jo was actually very sweet as the youngest triplet and did her best to keep the peace in the household. Flo honestly felt a little sorry for her, because preventing a fight from breaking out was a rather difficult task, even with the help of their parents. But Bo filled her with utter fury, what with the superior attitude she possessed over the two of them. Never one to rebel, Jo involuntarily followed Bo's directions, no matter how much she would normally disapprove of them, though Flo was trying hard to help her to get rid of that habit.

"She thinks her private life is too good for her own sisters to know about," Bo was saying rather flippantly.

"When the _fuck_ did I ever say that was true?" Flo exclaimed.

Jo winced, then held up her hands, as if to attempt to calm the livid girl down. "I highly suggest you calm yourself down, there's no need to swear..."

Bo ignored Jo, but Flo's F-bomb had prompted her to finally raise her head from that cursed novel. "You certainly are implying it."

"Just because I keep a part of me to myself doesn't mean I think I'm too good for you!" _Well, I do, but only because you're an insensitive bitch._ "Besides, don't you have your own secrets?"

"As if," Bo dismissed without hesitation.

"Even that one night stand with the strange boy during junior year?!"

Bo's eyes widened, her calm demeanor instantly vanishing. She jumped out of her armchair. "How do you even know about that?!"

"I read your diary!" Flo shouted back, feeling no shame. "I figured that you were going to nose around for the rest of my life, so I should do it back to you! And hey, you say you harbor no secrets, so tell me, who is this boy who you failed to name?"

"That's none of your concern!"

"Why isn't it? We're triplets! We keep no privacy from each other!" Flo retorted bitterly. "So why bother even thinking that we live our own individual, separate lives?"

Bo was quiet, then asked placidly, "Does it happen to be that time of the month right now?"

"Considering that's not something I've exactly told you, no!" Flo wasn't about to stop. "If it were, wouldn't you have known by now?" She knew she was coming off bratty right now, but she couldn't care less. Every once in a while, she and Bo would have arguments similar to this one, because the annoyance she felt for her older sister would pile up until it exploded all together, just like a volcano filled with magma.

"Do I really need to go to Mom and Dad and have them fix your obvious, emotional issues?"

That did it for Flo. She threw her arms up in the air in sheer frustration, stormed over to the house's entrance, took her coat off the rack, and threw open the front door, slamming it behind her.

This whole time, Jo had backed away a couple feet in order to not get herself involved in the altercation. "Bo, maybe...maybe Flo's anger is justifiable."

"Yeah, right," Bo sneered. "That child has the most unpredictable temper ever. Hell will freeze over before her bad mood is actually reasonable."

* * *

"A Cuisinart toaster, model number 160BCH," Tony the intern behind the counter read, handing over a heavy cardboard box to Jack. "Be careful with it, alright?"

"Thanks, man," Jack smiled, taking hold of the box.

Tony looked a little unhappy, breathing quietly, "I wish I actually saw Mrs. Bennett instead of you."

Jack wasn't supposed to hear that, but he did. "Why, do you have a crush on her or something?" he joked, taking Tony's remark lightly.

Tony only looked away. "Just...tell her I said hi."

Jack's grin dropped, realizing that he had unknowingly hit the target. "But... But..." he sputtered, unable to think of the right words. "She's... She's like in her 30's! And... You're like what, 21?!"

"I like older women, okay?!" Tony defended sourly. "I just... You might want to go now before your head explodes from overthinking it."

Gaping, Jack scooted backwards and out of the sliding doors of the store (While thinking back on it, it really was a miracle that he didn't collide with anything). The rain still wasn't letting up, so he opened the umbrella (He had taken Zander's while on his way out the door) in his hand while tucking the cardboard box, which really wasn't as heavy as he thought it would be, under his arm.

He was only about halfway home when he saw someone sitting under the shade of the local barber shop. Their knees were brought up to their body, and their head was buried in them. They obviously had no umbrella with them, just the hood of their jacket that barely did anything to protect the rain from their head. Wondering what was up, Jack cautiously approached the person, asking softly, "Are you okay?"

The person seemed to start at the sound of his voice, and slowly they raised their head to look at him. Jack recognized them as a girl now, and her eyes widened once she saw him.

For a second, Jack couldn't identify her, but once he did, he became equally surprised. "Flo?"

* * *

Flo wanted to die. First she got into a nasty argument with her older sister (Not that she regretted it in the least), now the guy she had always pretended to crush on had run into her on his way back from some place. It didn't sound like such a terrible situation, but to her, the last thing she wanted was Jack Overland to see her in her fragile state. It was bad enough that he already thought her as a creeper. He was staring down at her, and she could feel her dignity quickly going down the drain.

She opened her mouth to say something, but couldn't find the words she wished to seek. "I... Funny to run into you here."

Jack must have found the scene awkward as well, because he stammered, "Well, I—I was just coming back from the mall. I had to pick something up... What are you doing here? And why are you sitting all alone?"

Flo looked down again. "...I needed to get out of the house."

"How come? Where are your sisters?"

Flo wished the interrogation would stop. "They're...at home. I just felt like I needed some fresh air, so I came out."

"Oh. Okay." Jack really didn't look like he believed her for one second. She made a mental note to herself to begin brushing up on her lying skills. "So you live in this neighborhood?"

"My house isn't too far from here, if that's what you mean."

Jack paused, then uncertainly stated, "You really don't seem like the type to want to go out for a walk in the rain."

Flo's eyes darted around, more than willing to look at anything that wasn't him. "Okay, so...there was a bit of a fight between me and Bo. Now that I look back on it, it was pretty stupid and I regret the things I said to her. I behaved like a spoiled brat, so maybe I should just—" She put both of her hands to the ground, about to push herself to a standing position, when Jack suddenly crouched down beside her, a genuine expression of concern plastered on his face.

"You don't look like you mean that," he spoke gently. "I know you most likely don't want to talk to me right now, but I can tell you're only saying that so you could get away from me. And I also know you think I'm asking too much, but I'm doing it because you seem upset, and I want to know why so I can help you. Besides, don't you feel like you should let it all out? Keeping things bottled up isn't a very smart thing to do."

Flo finally looked up and into his eyes, and instantly she realized that Jack truly did want to help her. Yes, he appeared a little nosy like Bo, but unlike her sister, he was only like that because he wanted to see what he could do to cheer her up. Plus, he was right about her wanting to tell someone her troubles. Her brief chat with Hazel didn't count, as it was only the tip of the iceberg when it came to the resentment she felt.

So, right then and there, Flo let everything out. She told Jack about how Bo had always been like this since childhood, bossing her two sisters around like they were her dolls. She told him about how she had hoped Bo would end up maturing past that, and about how wrong she was about that. She told him about the fight they had earlier that day and about how much stress she felt being overpowered by someone who was no more than two minutes older than her. And the whole time, Jack listened silently, but intently. He made no remarks, and his unreadable expression did not change the entire time.

"I just wish she would let me be myself one day," Flo concluded. "She can't get it through her head that triplets have their own separate individuality. I've told her this multiple times, but she's not listening."

Jack remained speechless for a couple seconds, then finally said, "So what you're telling me is that Bo is forcing you to live in her shadow?"

Flo shrugged, nodding. "That's it, pretty much."

"So... You don't really have the hots for me? Because I'd be lying if I said that I didn't get creeped out at certain times," Jack tentatively spoke.

"No." Flo was slightly amused. "I'm pretty sure Jo doesn't either. She's just too afraid of Bo to speak up about it."

Jack nodded approvingly. "Good." He stood back up and held out a hand for Flo to take. "Let's go."

"Where?" Flo asked confusedly.

Jack gestured in a certain direction. "To my place. I doubt you really want to go back to your own home right now, but I can't exactly leave you out in the rain, or else you'll get a cold. How long have you been out here anyway?"

Flo grabbed his hand, and he helped her up. "I don't know, probably like...thirty minutes?"

"You're freezing," Jack frowned, then handed her his umbrella. "Here. You need this more than I do."

"But what about you?" Flo skeptically questioned, but took the umbrella handle anyway.

"My house isn't that far," Jack smiled reassuringly, pulling on the hood of his raincoat. "Besides, you could say I'm immune to the cold. I actually prefer it over heat."

"Oh. Well... Thank you." Flo carefully held the umbrella as if it were made out of porcelain. "Should we go?"

"Yeah." Jack began to walk down the sidewalk, with Flo tailing him. "By the way, can I ask you something that I've been wondering about for a while?"

"Sure thing."

"Did your parents really name you guys Flo, Bo, and Jo?" Jack asked with such a serious tone that Flo couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"Nope, they're just nicknames. My name's actually Florence. When we were little and still learning how to talk, we addressed each other as Flo, Bo, and Jo. And it sort of...stuck after Bo began acting all superior."

"I like Florence. It's a much better name than Flo," Jack remarked. "It gives you individuality. What are your sister's names?"

"Jordin and Bostyn."

"...Bostyn?"

Florence looked away, unable to hide a grin. "Bostyn with a Y. I think that's another reason why Bo refuses to let anyone know our real names."

"Not gonna lie, I have a bit of a problem with..._Bostyn_...after what happened on Monday. It was my first time seeing her act so..."

"Bitchy?" Florence supplied.

"Yeah. But it was pretty funny when she made Cody slushie himself," Jack chuckled. "It made me realize that the boy's not exactly invincible like he usually seems."

They continued their talk until they reached the doorstep of Jack's home. He knocked three times, having remembered that he forgot to bring the keys along with him. After waiting for a bit, Jamie answered the door.

"Oh Jack, you're back. And..." Jamie looked at Florence. "Who's this?"

"This is Florence Robinson from school," Jack explained. Florence was grateful that he had remembered to call her by her full name. "I ran into her while I was out, so I brought her here. Where are Zander and Spencer?"

"Still in your room, where you left them." Jamie stepped off to the side to let Jack and Florence in. "They're, uh, playing with your new Facebook."

"What are they doing?" Jack immediately grew suspicious, setting down the box he had been carrying the entire time.

"I don't know, I just know they're playing with it." Jamie picked up the box and began to proceed to the kitchen.

"Who was that?" Florence asked once the younger boy had retreated.

"My cousin, Jamie," Jack simply fibbed, going down the hallway to the closed guest room door. "Oh yeah, and like you probably figured out by now, Zander and Spencer are here too."

"They're the twins you hang out with, right?"

"Uh huh. They live right across the street." Jack swung the door open and promptly began glaring at the twins sitting on his bed with the family laptop. "Jamie told me you guys were screwing around with my account. What exactly are you doing?"

"Well, we're definitely not writing embarrassing statuses on your wall, and they're definitely not garnering a lot of attention," Spencer smiled innocently.

"You are a terrible liar," Zander bluntly told him.

Spencer shushed him. "Don't say anything, he might still believe it."

"No, I do not, not even for one millisecond," Jack stated flatly.

"Hey, it's not our fault! You were the one who didn't bother logging off when you left—" Zander then noticed Florence behind Jack. "What's she doing here?"

"I ran into her, and I brought her here because I didn't want her to get sick," Jack frowned slightly once he detected the irritated tone in Zander's voice.

"Where are her sisters?" Spencer questioned, only a little taken aback by this turn of events.

"At home," Florence spoke up nonchalantly, going over and plopping down on Jack's beanbag chair. "We had a bit of a spat."

"'Spat'?" Zander feigned shock. "Wow, so even the Robinson triplets have their differences! I couldn't tell because of their synchronization and rhyming names."

"Their names are actually Florence, Jordin, and Bostyn," Jack filled in.

"Who the hell names their kid Bostyn?!" Zander shouted. "That's a terrible name! What, were they born in Boston and their parents decided, 'Yo, let's name one of them after the place she was born in!'"

"It's Bostyn with a Y," Florence meekly explained. "Also... What you said was accurate, believe it or not."

"Are you serious?!"

"Hey, I looked Bostyn up on that baby names website," Spencer piped up. "Apparently it means 'bossy' and 'demanding.'"

"How fitting," Florence spoke wryly.

"No wonder everyone knows her as just Bo," Zander muttered.

"Meanwhile, Alexander means a good looking male who has great taste in women," Spencer continued happily.

"Who's Alexander?" Jack inquired, puzzled.

Without any words, Spencer simply pointed at Zander. The latter slapped his hand away swiftly.

"...I didn't know Zander was only a nickname." Jack gaped. "But why the long face? Isn't the meaning of your name a good meaning?"

"How would _you_ feel if I told you that Jackson means a total chick magnet who tends to attract more hussies than nice girls?" Zander snarked.

"...I stand corrected."

Florence snickered. "Alexander. Alexander the Great. Alexander Graham Bell."

"Florence...Welch!" Zander attempted to shoot back.

"I love Florence Welch, so therefore, your argument is invalid." Flo played with the duct tape on the beanbag chair loftily.

"Florence Welch... Florence Wench! You're a wench!" Zander pointed at Flo, his finger only inches away from her face.

Annoyed, Flo took his finger and bent it backwards, though not nearly hard enough to cause any major injury. In retaliation, an unhappy Zander put her in a headlock, leaving her struggling to break free.

Meanwhile, Jack murmured to Spencer, "When I brought her here, I didn't think she and Zander would start flirting in a belligerent manner."

"Zander never really was above wrestling with a girl," Spencer replied.

Florence's arm suddenly shot up and collided with Zander's chin, causing him to yelp and let go of her. She stood up and brushed herself off, muttering about how boys were so uncivilized.

"You hit hard," Zander simply muttered, rubbing his chin.

"I was a black belt in tae kwon do when I was little," Florence explained, smoothing out her hair. "I probably could've broken your jaw if I wanted to."

Zander gave Spencer and Jack an expressionless glance. "Cody's going to get along so well with this chick."

**I can feel myself beginning to ship Zander x Florence more. OTP. They're most likely going to be one of those classic sitcom couples who are too stubborn to admit that they don't hate each other.**

**So most people answered Samson, saying he would be the one who could hold in his liquor best but WRONG HAHAHA IT'S NOT SAMSON IN FACT I'M PRETTY SURE HE WOULD BE ONE OF THE WORST ONES. It's actually Florence. In the one in a million chance she **_**does**_** get drunk, you wouldn't be able to tell that she's not sober. She still acts normally. Hazel's second best. Then it's Cody. Teehee.**

**Okay so I don't know if I mentioned this before, but Maddie Seth (aka my artistic assistant) has decided that she would be unfit to draw the PG comic. So yeah, no comic, at least not now. If anyone else wants to take her place, PM me, include it in your review, etc.**

**CAN SOMEONE DRAW ME A DECENT AND ELABORATE COVER FOR FORGETFUL GUARDIAN. **

**Stay tuned for a preview of the next chapter down below the replies!**

**Replies:**

**Doctor Skittles: I like Conrad, actually. Not because of his behavior, but because of how savvy and cunning he is. He's a genius who's comparable to Hans from Frozen.**

**Lil Angel 927: CRAP I couldn't find it and I'm such trash for not telling you this earlier ._. If I do end up finding it, I'll send it to you then. Also, I hope you'll like Cody and Hazel together because I thought about the two of them a lot haha. I ship Crouton too, by the way.**

**pineapplefreak: My own school isn't all that bad either. Much less drama than at Burgess High lol. Florence is like my favorite female main character because you'll see later on that she's basically a toned down girl version of Cody.**

**Ivy000: No, reading confrontations is not weird at all. I'm excited to write that part myself :D Jo **_**can**_** be nice, she's just too afraid of Bo to stand up for herself, that poor thing ._. Also, Spencer and Cici aren't exactly official. They're like, good friends who've been on a couple dates with each other (and by a couple, I mean one). Let's call them Spici because I like spicy food -w- (even though Spici is probably pronounced Spee-ci)**

**Sol's Darkness: METHANE FOR UPDATING. NO THANK YOU, I DON'T LIKE METH. So how old are you? I'm probably not as old as you think I am. I'm not in college, if that's what you're thinking XD**

**leafninja667: Oh, Cody and Anton will definitely have some moments. They won't be getting together **_**together**_**, but trust me, Crouton is going to get as canon as it can get.**

**ArkieR: Yes. You must remember Hazel's dairy allergy. I didn't write that for no reason, I wrote that because **_**things**_** will happen.**

**Lovepuppy316: I can really picture those drunken scenarios happening. And Cici's probably, um... The happy drunk.**

**Lolxxx: Wouldn't it be funny if Cody actually got the 'hold in your liquor' gene from his mom? Also, Jo originally was supposed to be Josephine (this was like...during the planning stages when I first decided to develop the triplets), but I decided on Jordin in the end because it means courageous or something like that, and since Jo is anything but that, I figured I could play with some irony there. You probably guessed this, but while I was looking up names for Bo, I stumbled upon Bostyn and I kid you not it really means bossy and demanding. Florence means independent. ...I put a lot of time into these names.**

**The Silent Book-reader: No, he has not been mentioned before the first chapter of FG. But then again, this is like the first time you've seen what Cody's first period is like so naturally he isn't going to pop up until now.**

**Awesomalicious: You said you were sure it wasn't Hazel. I originally planned for her to be the best, but then I moved her to second best. YOU NARROWLY ESCAPED THE JINX. Unless if you were using reverse psychology then idk.**

**T1nyDanc3r: Don't we all love Cody and his sheer badassery? Lol but hey, we'll be seeing a much nicer side of him soon enough. I plan to finally show what he's like underneath that rude as hell mask (Warning: Beware of dorkiness). **

**HEY SO LET ME GIVE YOU GUYS A PREVIEW OF THE NEXT CHAPTER (I took a bunch of random snippets from it so if it doesn't make sense, that's why):**

_**Bo was seething. She thought it was bad enough that her rowdy sister had yelled at her for no reason yesterday, but apparently the latter had decided that that wasn't enough. She had gone to be all buddy-buddy with that wretched Celine Sanders and Hazel Campbell. What did they do to make Flo prefer to hang out with them? Bo was her **_**sister**_**, she should be the one she hung around with!**_

_**She stood up from her place at the lunch table, and ignoring her other sister's questions on where she was going, stormed out of the cafeteria and down the hall. Her hopes did not disappoint her when she saw Conrad leaning against his locker. **_

_**He looked at her offhandedly. "Have you changed your mind?"**_

_**Had she? She had come here out of impulse and anger at Flo's supposed betrayal. But she really was furious with her sister's actions, and she wanted to make sure she got revenge. "Yes," she ultimately said.**_

_**Conrad smirked. "Good. Because I have a plan to get us both what we want."**_

_**...**_

_**"What was **_**that**_** all about?" Jack questioned Cody, as the latter casually flipped through a random novel that happened to be lying on the dining room table.**_

_**"What was what all about?"**_

_**"You know... **_**That**_**. What happened during the tour of Hazel's garden. Once we got to the marigolds, you basically scooted away so fast that you looked like you teleported from one side to the other."**_

_**"I don't know what you're talking about," Cody casually responded, not even looking up.**_

_**"I bet you do," Jack deadpanned. "She was talking about how marigolds were her mom's favorite kind of flower when you suddenly just upped and went to the other side. You looked like you were purposefully trying to hurt her feelings, and if that's what you were aiming for, you most likely succeeded."**_

_**"Well, unlike her dear mother, I have a certain disliking of marigolds," Cody replied, closing the book. "When I was little, I went up close to sniff one, and a bee came out of nowhere and stung me on the forehead."**_

_**"Then don't blame the marigold, blame the bee!" Jack exclaimed frustratedly.**_

_**...**_

_**"Oh, it's best if you don't go in there!" Hazel quickly supplied when she saw Cici and Florence about to open the closed door that was by her bedroom. "That's just a storage room. There's nothing to see in there other than a bunch of empty cardboard boxes."**_

_**Florence frowned suspiciously. "Why are they in there?"**_

_**"Oh..." Hazel searched for an explanation. "They were left by the old family that lived here, I guess."**_

_**"But why? Why would they leave random boxes inside that room? Nobody's lived here for about a year, so if there were boxes inside, then shouldn't you want us to clean it up for you?" Florence interrogated.**_

_**"Actually, Florence," Cici piped up, noticing Hazel's uncomfortable expression, "maybe we should focus on something else. I'm pretty sure Hazel can manage her 'storage room' with the help of her dad. We shouldn't press on."**_

_**A hesitant Florence agreed, and Hazel shot Cici an incredibly grateful smile.**_

_**...**_

_**"Cody said I hooked up with him," Anton stiffly spoke, his expression unblinking. "Cody said I hooked up with him. CODY SAID I HOOKED UP WITH HIM."**_

_**"We heard you the first time!" Zander snapped. "Calm down, it was only his excuse."**_

_**Anton robotically turned to him. "...He said I hooked up with him."**_

_**Zander left the room because he felt the urge to scream.**_

**(That was a long-ass preview, but whatevs. This still isn't even half the stuff that will be going on next chapter, so I don't care. Also, I should warn you that the wording of this preview may change once the next chapter is officially out. BTW THE MARIGOLDS ARE IMPORTANT. MUCH MORE IMPORTANT THAN I'M LETTING ON.**

**You guys are never getting such a long preview again.)**


	5. In Which Cody and Anton Hook Up

"So, after the events that occurred yesterday, I've ultimately decided that it would be for the best if I began to bestow my presence upon all of you," Florence finished, after giving a long explanation on what had happened. "Yeah, I know, you already love having me here. You're very welcome."

Cici was frowning, while Cody looked up from his fries momentarily to simply state, "I like Sassy Bitch better than Cheerleader Bitch and Head Bitch."

Jack glared at him. "Watch the attitude. Who's Cheerleader Bitch anyway?"

"Most likely Jo. She's on the cheerleading squad," Cici explained, disapproving expression not changing. "But from what I've seen from her, she doesn't seem like a 'bitch.'"

"She isn't. The ones who are bitches are me and Bo," Florence casually admitted.

Hazel hurried forward and took Florence's hands in her own. "So we'll be friends from now on?" she said eagerly. "That's great! It'd be nice to have another girl friend to have around!"

A taken aback Florence opened her mouth to respond, but Zander beat her to it. "Careful, Hazel, Flora's like a female version of Cody."

"What the fuck?" Cody didn't seem all too pleased with that comparison.

"It's Florence," Florence irritatedly replied.

"Florencia?"

"Florence."

"Flonica."

"Florence!"

"Florence-Emmanuelle!"

"What the fuck?"

"Alright, fine, I'll shorten it to Emmanuelle—ah!"

Florence had pulled Zander out of his seat at the lunch table and was now putting him in a very painful-looking position on the floor, which included pulling his leg back as if they were part of professional wrestling.

Anton looked at both of them on the floor weirdly. "What's going on between these two?"

"That's the thing. I don't know," Jack said flatly. "At first, he put her in a headlock and she smacked him in the chin really, really hard, then no more than a few minutes later, she ended up putting him in that exact position for some forgotten reason, then he somehow escaped from that and put her in a reverse swastika... Me and Spencer tried to ignore it at first, but then it got too bothersome so I sent everyone home."

"Um, okay..." Hazel hesitantly looked around and met with more than a couple of questioning eyes from nearby couples. "I think you should get off of him now, Florence..."

Florence didn't hear her over Zander's screams of pain.

Hazel sighed, then randomly pointed at Cody. "You. Help me separate them."

Cody scowled, obviously not in one of his best moods. "No. Why do people always come to me when it comes to ending physical fights?"

"Oh yeah? And since _when_ did you become the school's resident peacemaker?" Jack rolled his eyes. "For all I know, you're more of the instigator. Name one time you've stopped a fight."

"Fine." Cody shrugged. "You asked for it."

* * *

_So I walk__ed__ into history class, right? The first thing I s__aw__ once I __went__ in there was that moron Richard__ Parker__, who I like to nickname Dick, punching it out with that bigger moron Peter. Or maybe his name's Justin, not that I give a shit. And Sara, Dick's girlfriend who he's probably fucked like twelve times even though they've only been dating for like two months, looks so turned on by ohmygoshlikethemanlinessofmyboiiiii._

_...I'm never talking like that again, that hurt my throat. _

_So anyway, Sara notices me and comes over to me, and opens her giant, gum-chewing mouth, and says, "So Cody, you sweet, hot mess who's like way better than my loudmouthed, brainless fool of a significant other, can you _please_ separate the two of them?"_

_Then I t__old__ the horny bitch, "Funny, I thought you liked watching them fight."_

_"Yeah, but I like it even more when a third boy swoops in and saves the day by beating the both of them up!" I swear to god, she then bl__ew__ the biggest bubble I've ever seen. I'm surprised it didn't pop and spread all over her face, thus ruining all that fucking makeup._

_But I agreed to do what she wanted anyway, because both Dick and Pete-Justin-dude are on my list of Top 5 Idiots I Want to Smack the Crap Out Of. But I did make her promise she wouldn't lunge at me once I was done, because I don't want the same lips that have touched Richard Parker's lips and possibly penis to connect with my neck. There's a reason why I call him Dick, after all. But yeah, if it was going to happen, I' was totally going to drop the whole, "You can't hit a girl" thing._

_So anyway, I grabbed a baseball bat that conveniently happened to be lying around and beat both guys on the head with it. _

_"Why did you do that?!" Pete-Justin-who-the-fuck-cares whined. "I was busy having a duke-out with this idiot!"_

_"You're both idiots, and also, Sara asked me to separate you two."_

_"In exchange for what?" Dick immediately grew suspicious, because even he knows about the whore habits of his...well, whore._

_"Nothing concerning making out with me in the janitor's closet, don't worry about it—wait, if you know about your own girlfriend's infidelity, then why didn't you break up with her yet?"_

_"Her dad would kill me! He'll drive my family to bankruptcy! Do you know how rich Sara's family is?!"_

_"Then why the fuck did you date her in the first place?!"_

_"...I thought she was hot."_

_"You chose someone because of their attractiveness, completely disregarding the slutty way they act? Alright, that's fair."_

* * *

"And then, at that moment, I look down to see that Sara had rolled my pants leg and was licking at my bare lower leg—"

"Cody, can I stop you for just one second and say that I fail to see where exactly you plan to go with this story?" Anton deadpanned. "I mean, I think my brain stopped functioning after you talked about how Sara was blatantly trying to turn you on."

Even Zander and Florence had stopped what they were doing to pay attention. "Yeah, I have a hard time believing that story's even true," the former remarked. "I think I'd know if there happened to be an exaggerated slut here in this school. Also, I can't picture anyone treating you that fondly."

A moment of silence passed, then Cody got up, stalked over to Zander, and shoved Florence off of him. Zander breathed a brief sigh of relief, finally feeling free of pain and agony, until Cody sat down on him and pulled his leg back again, even harder than Florence did.

Hazel, covering her ears, called out over Zander's hollers of unbearable pain, "How come only a few people are looking this way at us?! I figured there would be more!"

"This kind of stuff happens all the time with us! Everyone got used to it!" Spencer shouted back, also putting both hands on either side of his head.

"I'm taking these." Florence took the headphones that were conveniently around Jack's neck and put them on her head.

"Hey! I was going to use those!" Jack yelled indignantly. "Also, why do I feel something wet and icky on my bare leg?!" He looked down under the table, and his eyes widened once he saw a girl who had Nicki Minaj-esque makeup licking his bare lower leg. Putting two and two together, he turned to stare at Cody.

"Did I mention that this thing happened today?" Cody responded, catching wind of Jack's expression, looking completely unfazed by Zander's loud voice. "She never let go either. Not until now, at least."

"I should've seen Sara clinging to your leg in math class!"

"Wow. You _really_ need glasses then." Cody looked up to see none other than Pete-Justin-dude awkwardly passing by. "Oh hey, Pete-Justin-guy."

Pete-Justin-dude stopped for a second to irritably correct, "My name is Ben!" before storming off.

"Seriously?! Someone get this Barbie doll off my leg!" Jack wailed.

And that was the funny story that resulted in Spencer, Anton, Cici, and Hazel try to help him pry Sara off of his limb while Cody nonchalantly bent Zander's leg agonizingly back with one arm, acting like he was oblivious to the ruckus that was going on. And the whole time, Florence was looking on at the entire sight in amusement as she blasted Cher Lloyd on Jack's headphones.

* * *

Bo was seething. She thought it was bad enough that her rowdy sister had yelled at her for no reason yesterday and had come home cheerfully telling her that she would be seeing much less of her, but apparently Flo had decided that that wasn't enough. She had gone to be all buddy-buddy with that wretched Celine Sanders, Hazel Campbell, and...friends. What did they do to make Flo prefer to hang out with them? Bo was her sister, she should be the one she hung around with! As for the others, they were complete misfits. It was rather difficult to not roll her eyes all the way to the back of her head at how that violent monster was bending back that sarcastic twin's leg while the rest of those eccentric children tried to make that Barbie whore let go of Jackson.

Ignoring the jealousy stabbing at her insides, she stood up from her place at the lunch table, and ignoring her other sister's questions on where she was going, stormed out of the cafeteria and down the hall. Her hopes did not disappoint her when she saw Conrad leaning against his locker.

He looked at her offhandedly. "Have you changed your mind?"

Had she? She had come here out of impulse and anger at Flo's supposed betrayal. But she really was furious with her sister's actions, and she wanted to make sure she got revenge. "Yes," she ultimately said.

Conrad smirked. "Good. Because I have a plan to get us both what we want."

* * *

"I can feel my leg going so numb with every step I take," Zander groaned as he limped alongside Jack, Spencer, and Hazel on their walk home.

"Who told you to provoke the two most aggressive people we know?" Jack muttered, very uncomfortable with his own leg. He was definitely going to ensure that he washed himself thoroughly later that night.

"Like you believed his story any more than I did," Zander retorted.

"Remember that I am also referring to you purposely calling Florence all those different names."

"Hey, I didn't think she would get so mad!"

"Anyway," Spencer interrupted before this conversation could go on any further, turning to Hazel, "how are you and your dad doing when it comes to your unpacking?"

"Considering I'm not there with him because of school? We're a little slow." Hazel winced. "We still have to repaint the entire house, let alone unpack the rest of the furniture..."

"I thought the paint thing was something you did _before_ moving," Zander pointed out, successfully distracted from the precious topic of conversation.

"Normally, we would've moved sometime around spring break, but we had a bit of an...an urgency," Hazel explained. "We called these renovators to fix the house up but they're busy until next week..."

"Then we'll come over tomorrow to help you guys!" Jack promptly volunteered.

"We will?" Zander and Spencer questioned in unison.

"Sure, why not? It's Friday tomorrow, so we won't have any stress over school the next day. And it's not like anyone has any plans for the weekend."

"I don't know," Hazel disagreed skeptically. "I mean, as much as I appreciate it, I don't think Dad will be as approving. He can be a little...prone to jumping to conclusions. And he gets _very_ critical once he jumps to conclusions."

"What conclusions are there to jump to?" Jack asked, a little puzzled. "I mean, clearly he has no evidence to assume we don't mean well."

"Jack, I think she means that his dad will think we're her mass number of boyfriends," Zander spoke up.

"...Oh. But come on! He'll warm up soon enough. He just needs to get used to us and then it'll become clear that there's no romance between any of us!" Jack remained optimistic. "So anyway, can we come?"

"If you say so," Hazel tentatively agreed. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt to try. You could tell everyone else, I guess."

"Great! It's settled then," Jack smiled.

Meanwhile, Zander leaned in to grumble into Spencer's ear, "I don't recall ever agreeing to this."

* * *

"Are you sure you guys want to do this?" Hazel asked one final time as everyone else stood on her doorstep after school the next day.

"We _are_ all standing here already," Florence replied. "It'd be ridiculous to change our minds now."

Hazel nodded as she fumbled for her keys. "Fair point." She paused. "But just in case, maybe Cici and Florence should come in first. Just so Dad knows I do, in fact, have female friends." Opening her door, she walked in. "I'm home!" she called. "I brought friends over!"

Colin Campbell came into the living room, a warm, welcoming smile on his face. "Nice to meet you," he greeted kindly to Cici and Florence, the only two who had come inside. "I trust you're good friends of my daughter, yes? What are your names?" In his mind, he thought, _Yes, Colin, good job. It's just as how you rehearsed._

"I'm Cici. This here is Florence." Cici gestured to Florence by her side.

"I have to say, sweetie, I was a little worried at first," Colin confessed to Hazel. "I was afraid you were going to bring like—"

"Wow, this place is nice," Zander remarked, coming inside. "Or it will be once its renovations are done."

"Zander, you better not end up making this house a complete clone of our own," Spencer warned, as he and the others followed his brother. "I don't think anyone would appreciate that."

"Why have you still not let that time at the charity go?" Zander complained.

"—five boys!" Colin screeched, looking about ready to have a heart attack. "Hazel! What is the meaning of this?!"

"Dad, I can explain..." Hazel began nervously. "I just thought that the more people, the better! I mean, two friends can't really get too much done..."

"But—But—" Colin stammered. He pointed at the boy nearest to him, who was Jack. "He's that guy I saw the other day! I was so worried he'd do something!"

"Do what?" Jack was perplexed.

Colin pointed at Zander and Spencer. "I'm assuming these two are twins! I don't trust twins who don't look like each other!"

"Uh, yeah, see, the thing about fraternal twins is that we're not _supposed_ to be identical," Zander snarked.

"Shush, you! You look too different. I don't need the sass!" Colin turned to Cody, opened his mouth, but closed it again. He looked at Hazel flatly. "Do I even need to say it?"

"Please don't, I already got my reasons to be unhappy with him," Hazel responded gloomily.

"Okay, not that I care or anything, but it's disappointing to see that people don't bother hiding their dislike for me," Cody commented. "But anyway, you shouldn't worry about me taking your daughter away from you. Same goes for Anton too. We hooked up."

Anton stiffened. All three girls turned to gape.

"Twice," Cody added.

Anton had been carrying a cake box (because his mom had insisted bringing a gift was the right thing to do), and he dropped it once Cody squeezed in that last word.

Cody, disregarding the possible state the cake would be in (read: smushed), continued, "So yeah, we go the other way. No need to hate me or him now, alright?"

Colin, after a moment, turned to Hazel. "Okay. You're safe around these two." He looked at the cake box at Anton's feet. "Is that cake? You should take that to the kitchen. The girls and both of you could have a slice." He glared at Jack and the twins, who were gaping at Cody. "These three, however, are less welcome."

Anton swiftly picked up the cake box, and along with Cici, Florence, and Cody, followed Hazel to the kitchen. Hazel looked back at the remaining three boys with a genuinely apologetic look on her face, while Cody shot them a smugly raised eyebrow.

Once everyone was out of earshot, Zander irritably spoke up, "I detest that guy."

* * *

"Here." Cody set down three plates of cake on the coffee table. "I convinced that overprotective man that you guys weren't a danger to his daughter, since she actually talks to the queer kid—in other words, me—more. He believed me, so he let me get three extra slices for you."

"Oh." Spencer blinked. "Thank you—"

"Just keep in mind that I only did that because I realized that I'd be nuts if the only ass I saved was Anton's," Cody cut in matter-of-factly. "I didn't do it because I care or because I have what you guys call 'standards.' Now let me say this—Mr. Campbell won't be up in your grill any longer, but that doesn't mean he isn't wary. So watch what you say and do. That is all. Now come on, Miss Little A-Cup is giving us a tour of the garden in her backyard."

Picking up their plates, the other three followed him to the screen door that led to outside. Anton was standing motionlessly by the doorway, and Cody shot him a withering look. "I always knew the Japanese was good with technology, but I didn't know they exported lifelike robots to America." With that said, he exited the house to join the girls out in the garden.

Jack looked at Anton. "You okay?"

"Cody said I hooked up with him," Anton stiffly spoke, his expression unblinking. "Cody said I hooked up with him. CODY SAID I HOOKED UP WITH HIM."

"We heard you the first time!" Zander snapped. "Calm down, it was only his excuse."

Anton robotically turned to him. "...He said I hooked up with him."

Zander left and went outside before the urge to scream got to him.

"Okay," Spencer said slowly. "So he got himself on Mr. Campbell's good side by doing that. What's the big deal?"

Anton sputtered. "What's the big deal?! It's—" He put a hand to his face. "It's just... Never mind. It's nothing." He walked out the door.

Jack looked at Spencer. "What's his problem?"

* * *

"What was that all about?" Jack questioned Cody after they had all come back inside, as the latter casually flipped through a random novel that happened to be lying on the dining room table.

"What was what all about?"

"You know... That. What happened during the tour of Hazel's garden. Once we got to the marigolds, you basically scooted away so fast that you looked like you teleported from one side to the other."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Cody casually responded, not even looking up.

"I bet you do," Jack deadpanned. "She was talking about how marigolds were her mom's favorite kind of flower when you suddenly just upped and went to the other side. You looked like you were purposefully trying to hurt her feelings, and if that's what you were aiming for, you most likely succeeded."

"Well, unlike her dear mother, I have a certain disliking of marigolds," Cody replied, closing the book. "When I was little, I went up close to sniff one, and a bee came out of nowhere and stung me on the forehead."

"Then don't blame the marigold, blame the bee!" Jack exclaimed frustratedly.

Cody held the book up in front of Jack's face, waving it. "This book contains smut. And when you read it, you don't just hate the smut in it. You hate the entire goddamn book."

"That's different from hating a type of flower because of one single insect!" Jack groaned. "Also, that's actually Mockingjay from the Hunger Games trilogy."

Cody looked at the cover of the book and simply put it down on the table again, walking away.

Jack rolled his eyes. "Yeah, just walk away."

* * *

"This is so discomforting," Florence voiced her thoughts out loud as she and Cici pulled weeds in the very back of the garden. Hazel had mentioned that she had to take care of those later that day, so both of them had volunteered to save her trouble and stay outside.

"What is?" Cici asked awkwardly. "The fact that you're actually working yourself?"

"What? No," Florence frowned. "What's with you?"

"Huh? Oh. Sorry, that wasn't meant to be... I mean, I heard your family had a housekeeper around who helped you with everything, so..." Cici trailed off.

"We fired that housekeeper after we came home one night and caught her using my mom's credit card to pay for her insurance," Florence coolly explained. "It's just that Bo sort of didn't want people to know about her dismissal, because it's 'embarrassing.'" She rolled her eyes. "So yeah, you're like the first one outside of the family to know about this. But anyway, no, I don't feel uncomfortable because I'm independently working. I feel uncomfortable because of this awkward silence between the two of us. You haven't exactly been very talkative towards me since yesterday, and it makes me wonder if you hate me because of my sister's actions towards you."

"I... I don't hate you," Cici sighed. "I just... It's hard. The three of you are triplets, and considering one of you has kind of threatened me only a few days ago, I sort of began imagining the three of you as one person. Like whenever I look at your face, I see Bo instead. Basically, I can't really get my mind to distinguish you from her. You look so alike, part of me just refuses to think you're different from her."

"...Really. Well then." Florence stopped tugging at one particularly stubborn weed to continue, "You're right, we do look alike. We're part of the same set of triplets, after all. But what makes us different isn't our looks—it's our individual personalities and our own separate passions. I'm not going to bother going into the details on my sisters, but what makes me different from both of them is that what I aim for is to be my own person. I got sick of living in someone else's shadow a long time ago, but one good thing came out of that: I realized how important it was to become someone not alike anybody else. And to show how much that means to me, I stood up for myself and established the clear fact that it's impossible for me to ever be someone else. I can only ever be me, which is why I decided to try to become friends with you all—I know that none of you really care about what kind of person I am, and you'll accept me no matter what sort of attitude I have. And I haven't regretted that decision at all, because so far I've been feeling more freedom to be myself than I have since I was a baby."

Cici listened intently to what Florence was saying, and once the latter was finished, she still stayed quiet.

"But hey, if you're afraid Bo is going to try something, I can be on the lookout for you," Florence offered. "I'm not saying I can exactly get her to lay off you, let alone ask her nicely about it, but I can try my best."

"I'd like that, thanks," Cici finally spoke slowly.

"So anyway... Do you know any good job offers you can tell me about?" Florence suddenly asked.

Cici blinked. "What? Why do you ask?"

"It's related to what I was just saying about wanting to become more independent and unique...somewhat. I want to get a part-time job," Florence exhaled. "For my college fees and stuff. I mean, I'm sure I have more than enough money for it, but I want to show people that being a bit on the wealthy side doesn't mean I laze around throwing dollar bills all over the place. I want them to realize that I'm serious when it comes to my life, and that I don't just buy everything I want and need."

"Well then, you're lucky," Cici responded. "My boss is looking for a new employee after the old one quit a few days ago. I guess I could hook you up with a job there." She rubbed her arm. "And I suppose it'll be a good opportunity to get to know each other. Let's say it's bonding time."

"Oh. Thanks." Florence looked around the entire yard. "Hazel must really love her garden."

"Of course she does. She _did _mention that she had planted a couple flowers before her family even purchased the house."

"She did that to every house they visited, right?"

"Right. Obviously she did it without the realtor knowing, but I get why. Her mom used to love gardening, so it's only natural if Hazel feels that flowers are the only remembrance she can have of her," Cici remarked. Lowering her voice, she asked Florence, "How do you think she died anyway? I don't want to ask Hazel."

"She died after accidentally consuming peanuts," Hazel piped up, revealing she had been standing behind the other two for a little while. "She had nut allergies. We went to a restaurant, and—I don't even remember how it happened or how nobody noticed, but she ended up croaking and faceplanting in her salad."

"Oh gosh. I'm sorry," Cici apologized.

"It's nothing big. It happened when I was thirteen, so it's been a long time. No need for sympathy," Hazel brushed off.

"What are you doing out here anyway?" Florence inquired.

"I wanted to check on you guys. Thanks for doing this for me." Hazel looked around. "Also, I wanted to get a glimpse at my marigolds again. I just want to stare at them when I begin missing Mom."

"I like your marigolds, personally," Cici said. "I think they're really pretty."

"Thanks, but sadly, not everyone thinks so," Hazel sighed, staring wistfully at the orange flowers.

"You shouldn't expect marigolds to be universally liked," Florence unhesitatingly said. "Nothing will ever be liked by everyone in the world."

"I get that, it's just..." Hazel sighed again.

Florence turned to Cici. "Cici, why don't you go to the other side for a minute or two? There are a couple weeds that ought to be pulled out over there."

Cici complied, realizing that Florence wanted to talk alone with Hazel.

"One thing I've noticed about you is that you tend to care excessively about what people think of you and everything involving you," Florence immediately got to the point. "You shouldn't be like that. It makes you come off as melodramatic and opinionated."

Hazel kneeled down next to her. "I know, that's something I've been thinking a lot about. But I don't think it's because of that itself, I think it's because of how they show it. If someone just flat out said they don't like me, then I wouldn't mind. But if someone just began reprimanding me in a really hurtful way, then I get upset."

"Why? What's so important about the attitude they have towards you?"

"I've been bullied a lot at my old school," Hazel admitted. "I know it seems silly, but when someone gets all rude with me, it just brings up unpleasant memories of that past experience. It feels like the things I've been trying hard to forget are being thrown right back in my face. Then I get all offended, as if it's some sort of defense mechanism. And when he saw those marigolds, he suddenly zipped across the yard. It really was a little hard to not question what he was trying to do—"

"There was a reason why he did that, and intentionally screwing with you was not it," Florence interrupted.

"What?"

"I'm not saying this because I want you to feel better about yourself, because that would be stupid. I'm saying this because I was standing nearer to him, and I happened to get a look at him right before he dashed. For a tiny second, he seemed surprised. Scared. I don't know, it was really brief, so I could be wrong. But I know for sure that he didn't do it just to seem evil. I know how people like him think, and I believe that he had a reason that he's afraid to say out loud."

"What reason could there be?" Hazel wondered.

"You'd be surprised if you saw how many possibilities there are," Florence wryly replied. "But anyway, you should give him a chance. Try to endure his endless quips. Maybe you'll end up getting used to them and you'll become less sensitive."

* * *

"Oh, screw you." Zander scowled as he read the email that his phone just received. "I don't need your crap in my life."

"What's the matter?" Spencer peered over his brother's shoulder.

"Well, you know that private boarding school who keeps on sending us all that spam, trying to persuade us to enroll there?"

"Yeah?"

"Read this." Zander thrusted his phone into Spencer's face.

"'As the dean of Burgess's one and only boarding school, Phoenix Prep School, I strongly persuade you to transfer from that downy and dirty public school Burgess High. It will be good for your permanent record, so I urge you to consider my advice,'" Spencer read aloud. "Um... That's dignified."

"Yeah. Exactly. I'd like to type a reply right now and by the time I'm done, I don't think Mr. Dean of the School of Majestic Eagles would think I'm civilized and formal enough to enroll there," Zander snapped.

Anton inserted his paint roller in the bucket full of white paint and looked up. "What are you guys talking about?"

"Oh, that private all-boys boarding school on the other side of town has been sending us emails trying to tell us to transfer out of Burgess High," Spencer explained.

"Phoenix Prep School?"

"That's the one. Don't you live near there?"

"Yeah. My dad didn't want me to go there though. Why are they sending you emails?"

Zander heaved a sigh. "You know how Phoenix looks down on Burgess? We used to go to Phoenix from kindergarten to second grade until Dad convinced Mom that we should go to a public school instead. Let's just say that Phoenix doesn't appreciate students transferring out and going to a place more 'downy and dirty.'"

"...Then why are they sending you these just now?"

Zander shrugged. "I don't know. Probably just looked on their system, scouting out for more people to victimize. They must've stumbled upon me and Spencer late. They don't terrorize a whole lot of people since you'd have to be crazy to prefer our dump over Phoenix."

"Ugh, Phoenix," Florence grumbled as she, Cici, and Hazel entered the house. "My aunt and uncle considered sending my cousin but decided that it was too expensive."

"You have all the money in the world, so how the hell is there even such a thing as too expensive for you guys?" Zander questioned disbelievingly.

"If my family weren't a bunch of stingy bastards, then we wouldn't be so rich," Florence retorted. "Besides, Frankie resented the uniforms. At least his opinion about things matters," she murmured that last part.

"Did you mention that it was all-boys school? How is that even like?" Jack called from the other side of the room, dipping his paint roller into the bucket.

"Nothing too surprising. A supreme lack of girls, leaving a bunch of lonesome dudes to experiment with their sexuality," Cody piped up after a long duration of silence.

Because of his unusual quietness, Jack whirled around in surprise, having forgotten of his presence, and accidentally smacked him in the face with his roller.

"Really? A lot of people have been staining my beautiful face as of late," Cody deadpanned, white paint dripping and landing on Hazel's carpet. "Did I miss something?"

"Just clean yourself up before you make the floor even dirtier," Hazel sighed.

When Cody went to the bathroom, Florence told Zander, "Can't you just tell them you're not interested? They're bound to see it."

"I thought you were smart enough to know that it's not gonna be that easy," Zander snarked.

Florence became annoyed at that and grabbed the phone from his hands. She began writing a reply to the email, and just a few seconds later, she handed it back to him. "There, I did it for you."

"What'd you say to them?" Spencer asked carefully.

"I'd rather be an obese fool whose arm gets severed off than join your boarding school full of dildos with herpes," Florence declared shamelessly. "That should get the message through."

Cody entered again. "I heard something about dildos and herpes, what the fuck goes on when I'm not in the room?"

"Things aren't much better when you are around," Anton muttered under his breath.

* * *

"Oh, it's best if you don't go in there!" Hazel quickly supplied when she saw Cici and Florence about to open the closed door that was by her bedroom. "That's just a storage room. There's nothing to see in there other than a bunch of empty cardboard boxes."

Florence frowned suspiciously. "Why are they in there?"

"Oh..." Hazel searched for an explanation. "They were left by the old family that lived here, I guess."

"But why? Why would they leave random boxes inside that room? Nobody's lived here for about a year, so if there were boxes inside, then shouldn't you want us to clean it up for you?" Florence interrogated.

"Actually, Florence," Cici piped up, noticing Hazel's uncomfortable expression, "maybe we should focus on something else. I'm pretty sure Hazel can manage her 'storage room' with the help of her dad. We shouldn't press on."

A hesitant Florence agreed, and Hazel shot Cici an incredibly grateful smile. Turning around, she saw Cody eyeing her suspiciously, having overheard the conversation nearby as he continued painting the walls with Jack. Everyone else didn't seem to notice her jumpiness, aside from the girls.

As Florence went off to go do something else, Cici said to Hazel, "You know, if there's anything you want to let out, you can come to us. We'll be here for you."

"I know," Hazel replied, looking a little off. "Just... I'll tell later."

Cici went off, and Hazel sighed. They were going to find out at some point about what she was hiding inside that room, and she was dreading it. She was never one to be open about sensitive topics, so how could she possibly tell anyone that—

"You're hiding something," Cody said simply, stopping his painting mid-roll. He looked at her. "You shouldn't be."

"Didn't you catch on from what just happened that I don't want to talk about it?" Hazel wearily responded.

"Yeah, I did. But I'm just warning you. Secrets always are exposed when you're surrounded by people prodding you, so I think it's best if you just admit what's on your mind."

"I know that," Hazel snapped. "I'm just...trying to figure out how I'm going to say it. And it's easier said than done." She began to go down the stairs, leaving with a, "I'd rather you not talk about this anymore. Pretend that's a perfectly normal storage room."

As she went, Cody's eyes followed her. Beside him, Jack snorted.

Cody turned to look at him. "What?"

"Oh, nothing," Jack replied cheerfully, smirking slightly. "It's just that for someone who appears to know so much about secrets and how they come out, you're not exactly very different from her."

"You try telling someone openly that you discovered your own big sister's corpse inside her bedroom," Cody muttered bitterly.

"I never said that you should admit everything about you," Jack clarified patiently. "I'm just saying, she might have a similar background story. Try getting the answer out of her. Maybe something good will come out of it in the end."

"What makes you think that?"

"It worked for me and you, didn't it?"

Cody fell silent, then asked, "So basically, you're telling me there's a chance that she had an older sister who also killed herself and Hazel stashed her body in that very room?"

Jack's small smile immediately dropped as he sighed in frustration. "Will you stop bringing that up?" He paused before murmuring, "Actually, that could be possible..."

"Hm." Cody turned away to stare at the closed door again.

* * *

"Thank you for coming!" Colin singsonged happily as he bid everyone goodbye at the front door. "We're grateful that you decided to help! It allows me to save more money," he murmured that last part, but most of everyone heard him anyway. "Hey, where's the gay one?"

"You mean the _other_ gay one?" Anton questioned, something undetectable in his tone.

"Yeah, your lover. Hazel, where is he?"

"Haven't seen him." Hazel shrugged. "I don't think anyone did for the past hour." She was secretly hoping that he had bailed on everyone after growing too bored. It wouldn't be unlike him if that were so, and she wasn't complaining because she wasn't too willing to interact with him.

"Well, he should still be here," Colin frowned.

"Want us to help look for him?" Jack offered.

"'Us'?" Zander echoed. "No way, we already decided to come here even though you technically dragged us into it. If you want to help look for him, help look for him yourself."

Colin glared. "Watch it. I'm not completely casual around you yet."

"Nobody has to help," Hazel said firmly. "I know my way around this house, and finding him will only take around a minute. You can head home if you want now."

She turned and went upstairs, which was where she had seen Cody last. She checked the second-floor bathroom, her and Colin's bedroom, and even under the beds (though she had no idea what he would be doing there—heck, what would he be doing still upstairs period? She hated to admit it, but it was well established that he was sharp and perceptive, so it was extremely unlikely that he would accidentally get himself left behind). Growing desperate, she ended up looking behind the shower curtain, which was even more absurd than the beds.

_They're probably wondering what's taking so long,_ she thought. _And they might get the wrong idea too. Dad could end up realizing that Cody lied about his sexuality... Wait, was it a lie?_ She sighed and leaned against the wall. _Where is he? He couldn't have just disappeared into thin air... Wait._ Her eyes widened. _Right before I went downstairs... He said..._

She bolted from the bathroom and went to the room with the door that had been shut for that entire day—or so it seemed. Suddenly, she thought it was too quiet up here. There was probably some minor conversation between her dad and whoever didn't leave already, but that was downstairs. Upstairs, it was utterly silent. Hazel held up a hand subconsciously, as if about to knock. She dropped it and shook her head, noticing how habitual knocking in her own home had gotten.

Taking a deep breath, she swung open the door, revealing another bedroom on the other side. There was a single bed in the far corner, and it was occupied by a younger boy of around the typical high school freshman age. The blankets were pulled up to his chin, and he was sleeping soundly, his peaceful expression indicating that no nightmares were present. But despite the sight, Hazel's stomach dropped anyway.

Because sitting coolly at the foot of the bed was Cody. He had been watching the younger boy sleep, but had promptly turned to her once the door opened. He raised an eyebrow at her. "Hey. You're here. Finally."

Hazel couldn't find the words. "I—How did you... Do you—"

"Before you pelt me with questions and attempt to strangle me," Cody interrupted, "let me ask you this." What he said next left her fears confirmed and the last of her hope diminished. "Why exactly are you hiding your poor, little brother up here, away from everyone else? Just because he has brain cancer and needs rest doesn't mean he shouldn't have a social life."

**Cliffhanger. Sort of. I don't know. I think it's a cliffhanger, at least.**

**Guys, if I got any of this 'moving into a new home' stuff wrong, I sincerely apologize. My knowledge about this kind of thing hasn't exactly increased since writing about Jack moving into Jamie's house.**

**I honestly don't know what the hell I'm thinking when I'm writing about Hector (Yes, his name is Hector) and his brain cancer, because I have no experience with this topic either and my medical knowledge sucks. **

**I'm trying to bring a female perspective into this story. Can you tell?**

**Let me just go ahead and say that Cody's avoiding marigolds is not because they were Carrie's favorite flower (Tbh I mentioned that she liked roses briefly in PG when Jack and Cody went to the cemetery together but I don't blame anyone for forgetting that). A couple people suspected that when they read the preview and I'm here to deny it.**

**Replies:**

**Maximus Potter: Your wishes have been heeded.**

**Cat Lunanoff: Okay, I can picture Cody to be a sad drunk, but frankly speaking, I'd rather have him as one of those really silly drunks because of how funny it would be to see him all OOC. Like he starts laughing all drunkenly and he starts saying stuff like, "Oy, Red! Did I tell you that I saw you fuck that bus driver this morning?" Want a better nickname for Florence? How about...Emmanuelle? All credit goes to Zander for coming up with that one :3 AND YOU WANT TO SEE DORKY CODY, DON'T YOU? I'M EXCITED TO WRITE HIM, SO THAT MAKES TWO OF US.**

**Lil Angel 927: Noooo. Like I said up there, she liked roses. Try again c: We should call it Florexander or something. There's an X because ALEXANDEEEEEER.**

**Doctor Skittles: I don't really know what I want to do with Jo just yet tbh. If she's popular enough, I'm more likely to focus more on her c: Also, I'm pretty sure Bo's the way she is because of an inferiority complex. I've had experience with this kind of person before.**

**Sol's Darkness: Guess who earns the achievement of Dumb Moment of the Day? Haha it's kind of hard for me to distinguish meth from methane because of all these similar names. So yeah, sorry about that. (Ooh, I thought you were older than that because you're much more mature than any of the other twelve-year-olds I've seen). Yeah, I'm in high school. A sophomore, to be exact.**

**rantingsarah: It'll come in near the end of the story. So yeah, not yet. Gotta wait a while ^^**

**Kai2: Here's your shout out. AND NOPE, TRY AGAIN HAHA.**

**Awesomalicious: Ehhh probably not. Though they probably did try, if only for Bo to enjoy the satisfaction of controlling even more people.**

**Ivy000: I'm just glad you like Florence, considering you're not too fond of Hazel XD**

**lolxxx: Don't worry, there's still plenty of Jack x Zander heading your way ;)**

**feathered moon wings: I'm positive that Jack's never lost his virginity. I plan to have one of his friends point out how strange that is later on. Also, there are going to be a hell of a lot more bad guys than you think there will be. As for the Guardians, they're going to show up...sometime soon. I don't know, I don't think about them a lot :P Wait, you name your marigolds?**

**Lovepuppy316: That Facebook status is canon. I laughed at that more than I probably should have. WERE YOU SURPRISED BY THIS CHAPTER AND THIS ENDING. I HOPE SO.**

**Preview (that's not anywhere near as long as last time):**

**Conrad approaches Jack, we see Samson again for a brief moment, small threads begin to form between Cody and Hazel, etc. Idk I BS these previews more than anything. I'm really not sure what the next chapter will contain.**


	6. In Which Zander Arises

Hazel stared. And stared. And stared. Then finally, she stammered out, "Why—How—_Don't you have any sense of privacy?!_"

"Sure I do. Not around people who horribly lie about the existence of their own siblings though," Cody stated, standing up. "So are you going to tell me what you were thinking or not?"

Hazel felt more furious than she had felt in a long time. This... This _demon_ had treated her rather unkindly since day one, refused to have mercy on her and quit his incessant derogatory remarks, and now he had snooped around inside her house without anyone knowing, thus finding out what she had wanted to conceal the whole day. Did he have no shame for himself?

"Don't you dare tell anyone about this," she hissed, a subtle hint of desperation seeping into her tone. She cursed herself for not sounding as venomous as she had intended to.

An unimpressed Cody raised a questioning eyebrow. "I wasn't going to. But only because it's not my secret to tell. You need to tell them yourself unless if you want to feel tremendous weight on you for the rest of your life."

"I don't feel any weight on me," Hazel insisted.

"Probably because you've been hiding it for so long, you've gotten used to it," Cody countered promptly. "Secrets will only drag you down. I suggest that you hurry and open up before you end up being crushed by all the pressure."

"You can't force me to tell them the truth!"

Cody sighed and rolled his eyes. He seemed to start getting a little irritated at her. "For someone who hates me because I'm difficult, you're not too easy to handle yourself."

"I'm not the one going around insulting people," Hazel heatedly retorted. "Besides, you have secrets too, don't you?"

"Yes," Cody replied bluntly. "And look where secrets have led me. You wanna be like me later on in life?"

No way was she sinking as low as him—wait, was he self-deprecating? Hazel was a little confused at the sudden change in him; until now, he had acted like he was the most flawless person in the room. That feeling only lasted for a moment, however, due to her current anger consuming her.

"You can't just intrude on other people's lives like you own them, you know!" She threw her arms up in frustration. "I don't have to explain myself to you, so you might as well—"

She looked at her arm, only to see that Cody had grabbed it, his grip firm.

"Hazel, honey, are you okay?" Colin called up worriedly. "What's going on up there?"

"Things are fine!" Hazel shouted back before, in a more hushed tone, biting out at Cody, "Let go."

Cody's hold only tightened. "I don't think you get it. I'm not letting go, and I sure as hell am not leaving until I hear you answer me." His voice was hard. "Why are you hiding your brother in here and not letting him outside?"

Hazel held his gaze for some time before dropping it and sighing. "Just...promise that you won't say anything to anyone about this."

Cody nodded, and she took a deep breath.

"Hector was diagnosed three years ago. Before then, he was this...really energetic kid who was always in a good mood, and it...it was just such a shock to all of us when we found out he had cancer. It began sort of minor, but got worse over time. The next thing I knew, he was in and out of school and...and he gets all these seizures very often. But despite everything, he took all this better than me and my dad did. He was still the same, happy-go-lucky little boy from back when he was healthy.

"And... It kept worsening, so I got scared. I became afraid that everyday I would wake up and find out that he wouldn't be here anymore. I wanted to save myself from the pain I would be subject to if that happened, so I just distanced myself from him. I've always been an introvert, so it wasn't hard for me to talk to him less and less. But..."

There was a long pause.

"But it hurt anyway. He tried to talk to me, but I always shooed him away. And it hurt me more than it hurt him." She laughed humorlessly. "Eventually, he stopped knocking at my door. And somewhere down the line, I began to hate the pity that went my way. So I decided that anyone I met from now on wouldn't find out about him. I would hide him away, all because I couldn't bear having people feel sorry for me."

She looked at Cody again. "I'm done now. So please. Say what you want. Anything's fine, as long as it's not pity. I don't care anymore. You can laugh all you want, just _please_ don't say you're sorry."

Cody eyed her, his expression unreadable. Then, with an exhale, he let go. Hazel didn't realize how much his hold had hurt until he released her, and she rubbed her arm gingerly. She noted to herself that for someone so skinny with no visible muscle in particular, he was pretty strong.

"Pity sucks. I'm not going to pity you," Cody said. "But I'm not going to laugh at you either. Not because I never laugh—though that's a minor part of the reason—but because it's not funny. What made you think I would _laugh_ at you?"

Hazel winced. "It's happened before. They didn't laugh in my face, but they did tease me about it. I'm pretty sure they did it behind my back."

"You weren't very popular at your old school, were you? I can honestly see why," Cody dryly remarked.

"And it's those kind of quips that don't exactly make you very well-liked yourself," Hazel shot back. "It's pretty obvious that people at school are more afraid of you than anything."

"I find that better than being made fun of. Besides, I'm aware of it, so you could say it's deliberate," Cody said. "Anyway, I don think you're exactly thinking of his feelings."

Hazel blinked. "His... His feelings?" She looked at Hector. "What...do you mean?"

"You're slow, you know that?" Cody sighed. "How do you think your brother feels about being isolated like this? If you were the one staying in bed constantly, would you want your big sister to keep you in your room when she has friends over?"

Hazel opened her mouth, but snapped it shut again. "No," she sighed in defeat.

"Exactly. And Hector doesn't like it either. Before he went to sleep and you came in here, I was talking to him. He opened up right away, and judging from what I just heard, he talked to me more than he's talked to you for the past couple of years."

Hazel could only nod in agreement, not finding it in herself to talk.

"So what are you gonna do now?" Cody raised an eyebrow. "Are you going to ignore everything I'm telling you, or are you actually going to do something about it? Personally, I couldn't care less, but you'll regret it if things don't change soon."

Hazel slowly sat down on Hector's bed, watching the boy sleep. "I don't know what I'm going to do," she admitted softly. "It's going to be hard trying to fix our relationship. I don't see how..." Her breath caught in her throat. "...how we'll go right back to the way we used to."

"You won't," Cody flatlined. "Not immediately, at least. But you'll feel better if you at least try. Would you rather have him die knowing you did your best, or have him die and feel guilty about being distant towards him for the last couple years of his life?"

Hazel didn't say anything, nor did she look up from her brother's peaceful expression. Suddenly, she stood up and said with finality in her tone, "You're going to help me."

Okay, Cody wasn't expecting that. "Come again?"

"Your'e going to help me," Hazel repeated. "I want him to live life, even when he's dying. But I don't know how. I can't do this alone, so you're going to be here for him too."

"Do I _seem_ like a positive influence for your brother?"

"No. You don't," Hazel frankly stated. "But you're the only other one who knows, aside from my dad. And besides, you said you talked to him. If he was as open with you as you said, then you'll help."

"Touché." Cody raised both eyebrows now. "I see your point. Sure, I'll help. But you owe me."

"How much?"

"A lot. I don't exactly go around offering assistance to people, if you haven't noticed."

"Oh, really?" Hazel questioned sarcastically. "Anyway, what, in full detail, do I owe you?"

"My life hasn't sucked as many balls for the past week, so luckily for you, I have nothing in mind at the moment," Cody offhandedly replied. "But don't think that means I'm going to forget about it. I'll find something eventually."

Hazel was about to retort when Colin appeared at the doorway. "Hazel, what's going on here?" he asked, confused, glancing between his son, his daughter, and that gay one.

"Nothing huge, Dad." _Besides Cody finding out about Hector's existence, that is._ "Sir Cody Gray was just on his way out the door, down the stairs, and officially out of the house."

"She's right, my entire life comes down to this moment. To be called 'Sir' as if I have been formally knighted by the regal Queen Elizabeth II herself. You know, because I'm so fantastic to the point where I can be compared to Elton John and Paul McCartney," Cody deadpanned.

Hazel didn't exactly like Cody any more than she did before today, but she failed to hold back an amused smile at that.

Colin noticed this and frowned, feeling his instinctual overprotectiveness begin to well up inside of him. He swallowed that feeling; Cody was homosexual, so there was no way he could end up becoming a potential man-slave to his daughter... Then again, teenagers were known for their ability to lie... _Colin, you're overthinking it. _"Well, it's time for your fellow knight to leave. Everyone else did already."

"Whatever." Cody exited and went downstairs, followed by Colin.

Hazel sighed, remaining in her position on Hector's bed. Cody had meant it when he said he would help, didn't he? Hazel honestly couldn't really picture him ever properly helping anyone without any self-benefits. But if he did end up bailing out, it wasn't too big of a deal. Sure, mending her relationship with Hector would be a little harder without him, but she could most likely manage.

"Will you really do anything I want from now on?" Hector hoarsely piped up from the bed, starting his sister out of her thoughts.

"You're awake." Hazel turned to face him. "Do you feel alright?"

"Really as okay as a boy with a severe tumor could feel," Hector responded. "And of course I'm awake. Both of you were being loud. Especially you, sis."

Hazel frowned slightly once she detected some awkwardness in his voice, despite how casual his words seemed. Well, she couldn't blame him. "He...drove me a little crazy."

"Is he your boyfriend?" Hector asked hopefully.

"...What."

"So he _is _your boyfriend."

"Hector, I've known him for five days. He's not my type anyway."

"You told me a long time ago that you liked guys with blue eyes," Hector argued. "Or did your tastes change during the time you refused to speak to me?"

He seemingly meant that in a joking way, but those words stung Hazel. "No... I still like blue eyes. And his are really nice," she admitted, albeit a little begrudgingly. "But his personality is a major turn-off. I can't only rely on looks."

"So you think he's cute?"

"Hector..." Hazel's face was beginning to grow warm.

"You're blushing!" Hector accused, sitting up a little. "I hit the target, didn't I?"

"Any girl would get embarrassed when their insistent brother is attempting to play matchmaker!"

"Come on!" Hector whined. "Just say 'yes, he's cute' or 'no, he's hideous'! You know I won't care about whatever you say, Hazel."

"He's not hideous," Hazel promptly replied.

"So he's cute!"

"Hector, have you never heard of the term 'average'? You know, the range between 'cute' and 'hideous'?"

Hector sighed in defeat. "Okay. I'll stop prodding." He plopped his head back down onto his pillow.

"...Okay, so maybe he's a _little_ on the good-looking side," Hazel quickly added. "But that doesn't really mean anything!"

"I knew it!" Hector shouted triumphantly. "I want to grow up and look like him so I could attract my future girlfriend!"

Hazel looked weirdly at his brunette hair and equally brown eyes. "Are you sure you'll be able to pull that off?"

Hector's spirits were not diminished. "That's why hair dye and colored contacts exist!"

"Okay... But if you end up acting like him as well, I'm going to literally kill you," Hazel smiled sweetly. "Neither Dad nor I need you cursing and insulting things all over the place."

"Why not?" Hector pouted childishly. "I think it'd be fun if I did that!"

"I don't need two Codys in my life," Hazel laughed. She and Hector certainly were healing their broken bond a lot more quickly than she thought they would. Hector's happy-go-lucky attitude certainly helped.

"But anyway," Hector began, "I have a bucket list of all the things I want to do before I die." He leaned down and pulled an extremely long, thin piece of paper out from under his bed.

"Hector, where in the world did you get that?" Hazel had a strange look on her face. After closely inspecting, she noticed the paper was actually a whole bunch of receipts taped end to end together.

"I collected all the receipts I could find," Hector explained, sounding a little too proud of himself. "Good thing too; I had a lot I wanted to put on here."

_Hector, I think all of us would be dead by the time we reach the end of that list._ Hazel refused to voice her thoughts out loud, not wanting to ruin her brother' stood mood. Instead, she said, "Okay, okay, we'll get started on your list once the doctor says you're free to get out of the house."

Judging from the wide grin that spread across Hector's face, Hazel found herself feeling grateful towards Cody for opening her eyes and letting her see what she had been making herself miss out on.

* * *

Before school on Monday, Conrad approached Jack at his locker. "Hey," he greeted. "You're Jack, aren't you?"

Out of all the things that could've happened to Jack that morning, a guy he barely knew beginning to talk to him for no apparent reason wasn't one of them. "Yeah," he replied wearily. "Conrad, right?"

"Yup," Conrad smiled kindly. "Nice to meet you. Anyway—"

"Why are you talking to me?" Jack cut to the point right away, not willing to deal with anything too troublesome. "You never did before."

Conrad's smile was replaced by a frown. "Huh? What do you mean?"

"I mean," Jack began, his patience beginning to stretch, "why do you suddenly feel the need to talk to me? I've heard things about you from Anton, and I can't say they were particularly nice to hear. Are you just trying to get to him through me?"

Conrad stayed silent for a minute, then sighed and leaned his back against the lockers. "Right. That. You know, I don't get what that guy means when he says I'm out for his blood. I guess I was a little...cold towards him when he stopped hanging out with me and Samson, but I'm past that now. After thinking about it a lot, I realized that it was a silly reason to hold a grudge. I just wish he could see that."

"I fail to see how this is an explanation on why you're suddenly deciding to speak to me," Jack stated.

"Okay," Conrad gave in. "If you want the full truth, you're right that I'm trying to get to him through you. Just not in the way you think. I want to show him that he's safe around me, and I feel as if the only way to do that is to come to you. If he sees you and me talking, then he should be able to get the idea."

"Why me though?"

"Because who else? It's obvious that he trusts your judgment more than anyone else's. If he saw someone like Cody talking to me, I doubt he would even consider that he might be wrong about me."

"I don't think Cody likes you any more than Anton does." Jack stopped, then mumbled to himself, "Well, not that he likes anyone in the first place..."

"That's beside the point. I know you see what I'm trying to get at here," Conrad said.

Jack opened his mouth to answer when Spencer and Anton appeared. "Hey, Jack!" the former greeted.

"...and company," Anton dryly added, glaring at Conrad. "What are you doing, talking to him?"

"Before you get mad, _he_ came to _me_," Jack defended, wincing once he saw how he was throwing Conrad under the bus.

Conrad didn't seem to care though. "Relax, Anton," he nonchalantly assured. "I'm not up to anything. I promise. I just wanted to ask Jack if he could convince you that I'm not a danger to anyone."

Judging from the look on his face, Anton obviously didn't believe that one bit. "And why exactly would you do that?" he snapped. "If that's really true, then why don't you come to me and say it to my face instead? Why do you have to go to one of my friends and try to indirectly change my opinion of you?"

"I tried to do that, if you haven't noticed. You just wouldn't listen," Conrad muttered.

During this exchange, Cody and Hazel had approached the others. "What are you all doing here?" Hazel inquired obliviously.

"Nothing," Jack quickly supplied, trying to step in front of the glaring contest between Anton and Conrad (Well, it was more of Anton glaring at Conrad while Conrad looked uncomfortable. Spencer only did his best to pretend he was just another passerby). Needless to say, the two newcomers saw them anyway.

"So are we just going to ignore the Japanese guy with fittingly anime hair and the blonde bitch wearing sheep's clothing?" Cody wondered aloud acidly.

"It's nothing big, I swear." Jack turned back to Anton, telling him, "Anton, maybe you should at least try to conceal that hate."

Anton sighed, dropping his gaze. "Whatever." He saw Cody and Hazel. "What are you guys doing here?"

"Passing by," Hazel simply replied.

"Let me rephrase that, what are you guys doing here _together_?"

"Maybe it has something to do with us sharing our first class with each other. Who knows?" Cody sarcastically voiced.

"Look, I simply figured that Hazel would be trying harder to avoid you. Which was a wise action to take, if you ask me," Anton deadpanned. "So it's funny seeing you two in the hallway together."

"They're dating," Conrad inputted. "I knew it from the start."

"They've known each other for no more than a week, how could they possibly be dating already?" Spencer questioned.

"My relationship with her is no more than of a loyal, handsome knight willingly serving his flat-chested, melodramatic princess," Cody informed.

"...What does that even mean?" Jack confusedly pondered.

"Just an inside joke," Hazel smiled innocently, stomping down on Cody's foot hard, as if to threaten, _Say one word about what happened and I'll kill you violently, do you understand._

"An inside joke that spawned after Hazel moaned about how she wants to become royalty so everyone would worship her and love her and execute the people who are mean to her, but her guards fucked up and made me a knight instead of beheading me like they most likely should've done, but then she wasn't happy about it since she _hates_ me and takes everything too seriously, but she struck a deal with me and said that if I hunted down the sole Norwegian who was chilling out at the local Taco Bell full of Mexicans and Spaniards with their golden retriever bitches—I'm not saying if I mean literal female dogs or just a bunch of tanned prostitutes, figure it out yourself—and tell him, 'Hey, because everyone's a racist fuck around here, I'm here to rescue you from these punk-ass whores. Now move you ass before I have to push it until it's as flat as my princess's bust. To give you an idea, it's as flat as the wall over there.' And after the mission has succeeded, I'm officially her top knight," Cody continued.

Everyone else, including Hazel (who had continually dug her heel deeper into his foot until she heard what he was saying about a Norwegian) looked totally brain-dead.

"How do you say all of that in one breath?" Spencer finally asked dully.

Cody opened his mouth, possibly to go into a long spiel again, when the bell rang.

"Well, it was nice hearing your story about your official knighting, but we all got places to go, people to see, one certain person to get away from," Anton hurriedly spoke up, grabbing Jack's arm and dashing off with him, clearly wanting to get as far away from Conrad as possible.

"Hey, wait—" Spencer tried to protest, but the other two were already out of sight.

"Anton runs fast," an amused Conrad commented.

"And you're about to find out that I do too," Cody responded, and the next thing Conrad knew, his feet were being dragged along the floor as some unseen (but very blatant) force pulled him along the hallway rapidly.

"You're not going to hurt me now, are you?" Conrad eyed Cody skeptically as the latter pulled him along.

Cody stopped in front of the performance art classroom and let go of Conrad's arm. "Stay away from Jack and I won't," he replied coolly. "So you might not want to approach him like that again."

Conrad was offended. "What did I ever do to you?"

"Anyone who associates themselves with Samson Fisher gets an automatic denial of friendship from me."

"You're friends with Anton."

"One, no, I am not. Two, at least he had the sense of Samson being a horrible person."

"Samson's not that bad!" Conrad insisted. "You should give him a chance and let go of past grudges."

"He caused me to cut myself with a razor, do you _not_ remember that?"

"Technically, that was something you did to yourself—"

A panting Hazel suddenly appeared, out of breath as she caught up to Cody and Conrad. "Can both of you not leave me like that again? At least give me a warning next time!"

"Wow," Cody deadpanned. "So you're physically challenged in more ways than one."

It took Hazel a few seconds to realize the meaning of his words. "I'm going to pretend like I didn't just hear that because I'm sick of getting angry at you everyday."

"Before you two continue to flirt further, I'm going to head inside so I can let you have your moment in peace," Conrad politely piped up, going into the classroom.

"I hate him," a stony-faced Cody only said. "Anyway, how are things going with your brother?"

"Better than I imagined," Hazel admitted. "He has this 'bucket list' of all the things he wants to accomplish in life though, and it's our job to make sure he fulfills most of that list."

"I'm already regretting this decision," Cody grumbled.

Hazel shot him a look. "I took a peek and ninety percent of it wasn't all that bad."

"What about the remaining ten percent?"

"They were more impossible than traumatic," Hazel informed. "Stuff along the lines of becoming the first cancer patient to go to Mars. We'll leave stuff like that to his imagination."

"And what makes you so sure we'll be able to finish that list of his before he dies?" Cody asked matter-of-factly.

"He's not going to die! He's scheduled for surgery soon," Hazel snapped, not wanting to think of that possibility.

"Doesn't mean it'll go smoothly. Shit happens a lot more often than you think," Cody countered.

"Can you not?"

"Not what?"

"Not say stuff like that! I'm trying to look at the bright side and think of the best for him, and I don't need you trying to ruin that for me! You don't have to tell me that I'm going to lose him soon! It's..." Hazel heaved a sigh. "It's too painful to think about right now."

Cody didn't look very impressed. "Hazel, exactly what do you think you know about the pain of losing a sibling?"

"More than you!" Hazel shot back without thinking, then stormed inside.

It was only a shame that she didn't glance back to see Cody's eyes widening as his gaze followed her form.

* * *

Jack, with a heavy sigh, slumped down in his desk in physics. The bell had not yet rung to signify the start of class, but he wasn't in the mood for getting up and talking to whomever he felt like talking to. He had just gotten back from PE, and considering that Anton was in both that class _and_ first period history, he had heard a lot from the Asian in a ferocious lecture about how Conrad was evil and had always been evil since he was in his mother's womb and got sprinkled with wicked pixie dust.

_So stay away from him,_ Anton had concluded. _I don't care whether or not he came to you first. Next time, just bolt once you're able to._

"Whatever you say, you're the one who knows him," Jack mumbled under his breath. He buried his head in his arms on his desk, ready to snooze for a few minutes, when a hand slammed down, causing him to raise his head sharply.

Samson Fisher was looking down at him, an obvious scowl etched on his face.

Jack didn't know how to react. "Wha—"

"I'm only going to say this once, so listen," Samson interrupted, his voice hard. "Do _not_ befriend Conrad Montgomery. If you do, you'll pay dearly. It's time you realized that you can't just waltz in and grab everyone up like they're toys in a claw machine."

Jack blinked, slowly soaking this in. "...Where's this coming from? How do you even—"

"How do I even know? You think I wasn't close by and watching you? I saw you, and I _know _you were just about ready to jump at the opportunity to make 'new friends' or whatever."

"Do you think that's what was going on?" Jack snapped, standing up. "You think I just let everyone get on my good side that easily? Let me tell you something, and I don't know how much you'll believe me, but he came up to me, okay? It's not my fault that he just suddenly decided to associate himself with me. So next time, why don't you think before you begin threatening and pointing fingers?"

Samson would have responded if the bell didn't decide to ring at that exact moment. "Just stay away from him. You're better off acknowledging what I'm trying to tell you," he said in a low voice before storming to his seat at the back.

_What the hell was that?_ Jack couldn't help but wonder as he sat down again, droning out the lecture his science teacher promptly leapt into.

* * *

"As much as I hate to admit it, after Emmanuelle sent that reply back to Phoenix, my inbox has been feeling free of spam," Zander said cheerfully as he and his brother sat down at the lunch table. They were the only ones there at the moment.

It took Spencer a second to realize who he was talking about. "You mean Florence?"

"Sure, if that's what you want to call her."

Jack and Cody came along at that minute, with the former prodding the latter. "I swear, Cody, what's making you so touchy?! You have literally _nothing_ to be upset about!"

"How would _you_ know?" Cody shot back.

"Well, for starters, I got a D+ on our pop quiz the other day," Jack exhaled, holding up his quiz paper, "while you got a much better score, so I'm supposed to be the one moping more."

"The cause for my many diverse moods are not limited to just math," Cody bit out.

"You got a 68?" Zander butted in. "Dude, it's just geometry."

"Geometry isn't easy for everyone," Jack retorted. "We have...proofs and crap."

"If you want to say 'shit,' then say 'shit,' you loser," Cody said monotonously.

Jack glared at him, but decided not to comment.

"What'd you get on your quiz?" Spencer asked Cody.

Cody held it up for the twins to see.

"A... You got a 16?" Spencer questioned in puzzlement.

Cody looked down at his paper, then turned it right side up, revealing that the number written in clear, red ink was actually a 91.

"Aw, man," Zander frowned in disappointment. "And I was about ready to begin laughing at you too."

"Go ahead, I dare you," Cody responded heatedly. "See what happens to you if you do."

Zander decided it was wise to keep his mouth shut.

"Seriously though, you're in a worse mood than usual, but you were fine this morning. What happened?" Jack pressed on.

"I found out your mother sold coke for a living," Cody spoke irritably before stalking over to the lunch line.

Jack gaped after him, before turning to look at Zander and Spencer. "My mother's been dead for the past 260 years...?"

"...I'm sorry for your loss?" Spencer answered awkwardly.

"Ah, whatever," Jack brushed off. "Do you guys know what we're doing in performance art class today?"

"We have it in sixth period with you, how the hell should I know?" Zander flatlined.

"I was just asking, sheesh," Jack murmured. _Everyone's in a terrible mood today._ "Be right back."

He went off to the lunch line to talk to Cody, only to return a few seconds later. "He said nothing interesting was going to go on, and he added that if I even think of asking him why he's in a bad mood again, he's going to snap my neck right then and there."

"What a lovely image," Zander said wryly.

* * *

Florence happened to be wearing formal wear that day. Her outfit included a frilly, sleeveless top, a black, skin-tight skirt that ended just above her knees, and black pumps. Her hair was laced with perfect curls, and she was currently putting lipstick on.

Jack raised an eyebrow. "What's gotten you all dolled up today?"

"Job interview," Florence explained, inspecting her mascara. "Cici put in a good word for me to her boss."

"So we'll be seeing you a whole lot more at Starbucks then?" Spencer asked.

"Yeah. _If_ I get the job." Florence closed her compact and looked at Jack, the twins, and Anton. "By the way, Zander, is it just me or do you look about ready to break out sweating?"

"Of course I am!" Zander said a little too quickly, looking in the other direction. "It's... It's really hot in here, that's why."

"Really? I think it's a little too cold, as a matter of fact," Spencer contradicted, puzzled. "Maybe you're coming down with a fever..."

"No! No, I'm fine," Zander chuckled nervously, face beginning to grow a little pink. "Excuse me while I... I get permission to go to the restroom..." He hurriedly went to the teacher's desk, then out the door.

Out of all of them, Anton looked like he was the only one who knew what was up with Zander's bizarre behavior.

"What's up with him?" Jack wondered.

Anton looked at him. "Do you really want an answer to that?"

Jack shrugged. "Sure, I guess."

Anton shook his head. "I'm not saying."

"What? Come on!"

"No."

This banter continued on until Zander stepped back in, not looking much better. "On second thought, Spencer, maybe we should get Mom to check my temperature once we get home."

Spencer looked concerned. "You feeling alright?"

"Yeah, just... I'll get better soon enough. With medicine...prescribed to me...vaccinations...and crap."

Florence scoffed. "If you want to say 'shit,' then say 'shit,' you loser."

"Why does that sound vaguely familiar?" Jack questioned dryly.

"Don't get your milk jugs in a bunch, Emmanuelle," Zander retaliated. "Bosses of Starbucks generally don't like it when pretty girls like you swear."

"He thinks she's pretty," Anton whispered to Jack, who began snickering.

"It worked for that bear in the movie Ted, didn't it?"

"That boss was crazy! Ted isn't exactly the first movie I think of when it comes to setting a good example."

"You think I don't know that? Fine, if you want to educate me on the importance of good behavior during job interviews, be my guest," Florence smirked, crossing her (very nice) legs. "Let's roleplay. You're the boss, I'm the client."

Zander smirked back, sitting down. "If you say so, milady." He cleared his throat. "So, Miss Robinson," he said in a formal, business-like voice that sounded nothing like he usually sounded, "I understand that you are interested in a part-time position here at Starbucks, is that correct?"

"I'll tell you what I'm interested in. That dork that's just sitting there," Florence smiled flirtatiously.

Zander turned around to see Jack in the chair behind him. The latter pointed at himself, looking around to make sure he wasn't mistaken. "Who, me?"

"No, not you. I'm talking about the one rising right between my lovely interviewer's legs."

Zander looked down at himself for a second before slapping one hand down between his legs. "Anyway," he continued on stiffly (He became irritated when he heard three certain guys laughing behind him), "let me see your application."

Florence obliged, handing him the folder she had put her actual application in. Zander took it out, eyes skimming through it, before raising his head. "Your references?"

"The only references I have are the references my doctor gave me on your penial issues."

"Stop bringing that up!" Zander shouted. "And I'm being serious here, where are your references?"

"Cici said I didn't need them."

"What if you do? How do you know she's not lying to you because she secretly hates you?"

"She told me she doesn't hate me! And she really doesn't seem the type to lie about things like this."

"I'm going to feel so sorry for you if I end up being right."

"I thought you guys were friends, maybe you should have more faith in her."

"I do have faith in her, which is why I believe that she's the only other one who has enough sense to realize that you're a heinous harpy."

"What the fuck is a harpy?"

Zander took out a dictionary from under his chair, flipped it to the bookmarked page, then read aloud, "'Harpy — 1. a ravenous, filthy monster having a woman's head and a bird's body. 2. a scolding, nagging, bad-tempered woman; shrew. 3. a greedy, predatory person.' Judging from these definitions, I have to say 2 and 3 are most like you."

"Okay, first off, I don't know what just happened with you and that dictionary and I don't think I want to know either," Florence remarked. "But then again, you're an inexplicable pustule."

"The hell is a pustule?"

Florence reached down and pulled out the dictionary from under _her_ chair, flipped it to the bookmarked page, then read aloud, "'Pustule — 1. a small elevation of the skin containing puss. 2. any pimple-like or blister-like swelling or elevation."

"Did you just compare me to a wart?"

"Were you not listening? A pustule is _not_ a wart. It's a small elevation of the skin—"

"—that contains puss! I get it! Look, let's just drop this before the bell rings and we get busted for verbally attacking each other during class time," Zander decided, crossing his arms and facing forward.

"Guys, I feel the dire need to tell you that the bell rang 45 seconds ago," Jack piped up somewhat nervously.

"What!" Zander and Florence yelled in unison.

"Yeah, Flo, you need to listen more carefully," Bo called rather nastily from the other side of the room. "It'll help you in life, or more specifically, your stupid 'job interview' later or whatever."

Florence would've gotten revenge by shooting an even harsher retort back, but Miss McCarthy stood up, her fingers on both of her temples. "Zander, Florence, I understand that the two of you have some problems concealing your...belligerent feelings towards each other...but please, refrain from doing that again in my classroom."

"'Belligerent'?" Zander muttered.

"Anyway, class, I'm going to start off by making an announcement. We're going to be working on a new play for the next few weeks."

As the class talked excitedly amongst themselves, an indignant Jack exclaimed, "Cody said there was nothing interesting going to go on!"

"Cici and Hazel said that too! They lied to me?!" Florence gasped, feeling betrayed.

_Not so confident that your friends don't lie to you anymore, are you?_ Zander thought smugly.

Miss McCarthy apparently overheard both of them, as she continued on, "By the way, if you heard from a friend of yours who's had my class earlier, when they said 'Nothing interesting is going to go on,' what they meant to say was my new play, conveniently named Nothing Interesting, is going to go on!"

"Are you kidding me?" Anton rolled his eyes. "That should be as interesting as the title."

"It's a loose adaptation of the classic tale of Hansel and Gretel, which instead of a boy and a girl stumbling upon the house of a witch, it will be a modern version where two teenage siblings discover the existence of witchcraft, which they use to their advantage to climb up the social ladder. However, a real witch soon arrives and the two siblings are forced to save their school. The moral of the story is that social classes do not matter, and to be happy with who you are as a person. Of course, I plan to add all the elements I can think of—romance, comedy, suspense, and probably even a reference or two to other fairy tales such as Cinderella or Rapunzel. So, Mr. Suzuki," Miss McCarthy smiled coldly at Anton, "the title Nothing Interesting is sarcastic. Keep your mouth shut next time."

"Yes, ma'am," Anton calmly obeyed before turning to Jack and whispering, "This play sounds terrible and poorly put together."

Zander heard him. "Jack, use your creative charms to try and convince McCarthy to make a less random play!"

"Charms? What—" Jack began to protest when McCarthy set down a large stack of packets on the front desk.

"These are your script copies up here. I advise you to look over them tonight and begin deciding which role you would like to audition for. Auditions will be held next Monday. That is all, you're free to grab these scripts and discuss them with your peers."

Noticing the pleading looks his friends were shooting him, Jack rolled his eyes. "Come on, guys. Maybe the play isn't as bad as you think it is." He got up and obtained a script from the front before seating himself again. Opening up to the first page, he read the first three lines, causing his eyes to widen and his pupils to shrink.

"Still think it's not so bad?" Spencer wearily asked.

Jack went back to the front page, searching for the writer of the script, and once he found it, he yelled, "_Fernando!_"

* * *

**FACEBOOK**

**Jack Overland: Fernando Chavez** is literally the worst script writer ever. Srsly.

**Zander Anderson, Anton Suzuki, Florence Robinson, **and** 28 others **like this.

**Fernando Chavez: **Hey! I was trying to make it original!

**Zander Anderson: **There's a difference between original and utterly idiotic!

**Fernando Chavez:** Just what is so bad about it?

**Anton Suzuki: **Well, for starters, you made Hansel a mad scientist who "experiments around" with women, which is really vague so I'm trying not to think of anything dirty, and you made Gretel, and pardon my uncivilized diction, a cheerful prostitute who probably ate the shit of her past clients.

**Florence Robinson: **Wow. I didn't think you had it in you to say something like that. Well done.

**Jack Overland: **Did McCarthy even look at this script?

**Fernando Chavez: **...No... I just gave it to her and she immediately went to make copies.

**Zander Anderson: **Figures.

**Spencer Anderson: **So... She wouldn't notice if we ended up not following the script at all? **Jack Overland **and **2 others **like this.

**Zander Anderson: **Are you suggesting that we improvise our lines?

**Zander Anderson: **Seems fair enough. It can't really get any worse after seeing Fernando's writing skills. **Anton Suzuki **and **3 others **like this.

**Fernando Chavez: **You're all so mean to me!

**Kayla Suzuki: **Andy! I'm telling Mom you said that about Gretel!

**Anton Suzuki: **What? No! If you do that, I'm telling her that you found out about that by using your phone in class!

* * *

Jack sighed as he looked down at the script in his hands on the way home from school. "So are we just going to improvise our lines during rehearsal?"

Spencer shrugged. "I guess so."

"What, did you guys see the script and the horrid quality that went along with it?" Hazel grinned amusedly. "It's so terrible, it's funny."

"Cody saw it too, didn't he? Maybe that's why he was snappish all day today," Zander mused out loud.

"Oh, he just looked at the front page, and then he threw it into the trash once he saw who wrote it," Hazel informed. "So I'm guessing that this isn't the first time Fernando Chavez wrote something this disgusting. But I don't think that's why Cody seemed so upset today. In fact, nothing too bad happened today. He just suddenly got all testy when first period started."

"What happened right before his mood went down?" Spencer asked.

"We had a small argument," Hazel somewhat reluctantly confessed, "involving something I'd rather not mention."

"Wow, what else is new?" Zander caustically wondered. "Come on, there's got to be something more than that."

"Yeah, what exactly did you say to him?" Jack inquired.

Hazel thought back to that morning. "Okay, so we ended up arguing about...the chances of someone I know dying of cancer," she admitted. "He said that they were likely going to die, but I didn't want to hear it and I just...snapped and told him he had no idea what it would be like to have someone he cares about die."

Jack almost tripped, Spencer dropped the English textbook he was carrying in his arms, and Zander suddenly decided that the gutter by the curb was beckoning for him to stumble off the sidewalk.

"...Why do I feel like I said something wrong?" Hazel hesitantly spoke.

"Let's just say that you're very lucky that becoming upset was his only reaction," Jack replied, recovering himself. "He's more sensitive than he seems at first glance."

Stepping up onto the sidewalk again, Zander added, "You shouldn't say anything like that to him. Really, you shouldn't say that to _anyone_. It comes off as heartless."

Hazel groaned.

"You should apologize the next time you see him," Spencer advised.

Hazel stopped in her tracks, as they reached the front of her house. "Yeah. I probably should," she relented. She turned to go up the front steps. "Bye."

Jack sighed once she was gone. "God, it's sad whenever someone ends up unintentionally causing painful memories to resurface."

"Ah, they'll be fine," Zander dismissed, as they continued walking again. "She's sorry about it, so she'll try to fix it."

Spencer, on the other hand, remained skeptical. "I don't think Cody's the type to just...accept an apology like nothing ever happened."

"What, would you rather have her poorly attempt to apologize to the Cody from two months ago?"

"I'll admit it, he's right," Jack agreed.

Spencer gave in, rolling his eyes. "Alright, fine. But really, their relationship was never that good to begin with, so there's a smaller chance that Cody will let this slide—"

"Hey!" Hazel called from a few feet behind them. She ran up, then quickly and firmly directed, though slightly out of breath, "Tell me Cody's address."

**Six chapters into this story, and out of all the plethora of plots that this story will contain, Cody and Hazel's bonding is the only one that's begun to officially take place. The other major plots will come in soon, I promise. I plan to have Tooth come in next chapter too.**

**This play called Nothing Interesting is just another reckless decision I've made in life. I did not think of having another performance art project until I was in the middle of the chapter. So this will most likely fail, as every other impulsive instance of mine in this saga has failed.**

**As for the Facebook segment... Ahahahahahaha. I really wasn't sure if I should include that in there, because I'm not too big on script format in fanfiction (ignore everything I uploaded before 2012). But I figured, since I gave Jack a Facebook in chapter 4... Is it against the rules this way? I don't know, if you can answer this question for me, please do.**

**My goal is to make Forgetful Guardian have more chapters than Powerless Guardian, despite how long the chapters are already (Let's not forget that Powerless Guardian had 2000 words for each chapter at first). Yes, good, that is what I will do.**

**I can't believe I'm spending all this time in my life typing chapters that are 7500 words long in like five days. You little ducklings better be grateful or I'm roasting your parents alive.**

**Replies:**

**Tigermike83: No, I don't plan on revealing if Cody was telling the truth about their two-time hookup because that really wasn't something meant to be looked into. Cody genuinely lied to save himself and Anton from Colin's rage. As for Anton's reaction, figure that out for yourself :P**

**Someone: I honestly cannot tell if you mean that in a good or bad way, but for the sake of my optimism, I'm going to assume you meant that in a good way. Thank you very much.**

**Lil Angel 927: LOL No, your review was relatively short ^^ (though I do appreciate super long reviews) You mean are roses his favorite flower? Yeah, most likely. As for marigolds, he genuinely doesn't like them. The reason why will eventually be revealed (But hey, if you guess correctly, then I'll tell you that you're right). As for Colin, you'll also have to wait and see.**

**Cat Lunanoff: You have officially inspired me. Allow me to write that.**

**Sol's Darkness: Is your 'mature' friend Florence? I am being very serious here. What is this turn of events. A sophomore is a sycamore. No, I'm just kidding. It's another name for tenth grade.**

**Artimes' Thorns: Jack will become forgetful gradually, just so you know. I'm not planning on making him forget suddenly. Stuff will happen that'll cause him to slowly but steadily slip, and the beginning of that should happen soon.**

**feathered moon wings: I love long reviews, I don't see why everyone thinks I hate them. But anyway, concerning the cover, someone else has agreed to do it and I'm currently working with her on what I want on it. But thanks for volunteering! And Jack did reveal to Cody that he was suicidal at one point in his life, but it was touched on like once before it never was brought up again.**

**Lolxxx: Soooo... What are the symptoms of dyslexia? I mean, I'm confident that I won't screw this up, but it would be best if I have some references (that are not related to Zander's penial issues).**

**Like17488: LONG REVIEWS ARE GOOD. But anyway, I appreciate the criticism. About the whole 'downy and dirty' thing, I admit I wasn't really thinking things through... I guess I wanted to convey the idea that Phoenix looks down on Burgess High, but I probably tried too hard with that haha. And now, I will lamely excuse myself by saying that Phoenix people fail at hiding their snobby attitudes. *hides in the corner***

**Review! In case you missed it the first three times, I prefer longer reviews. On the other hand, reviews that are only like three words long piss me off (Reviews are not the equivalent to comments. Reviews are meant to hold insight, and not just a 'Cool story bro now bye.' Fortunately, I haven't had any problems with this so far). **


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